Week 2
System Decomposition & Managing Complexity

Introduction

This week explains one fundamental approach to analyzing system architecture – systems decomposition. We begin with walking through the decomposition steps using simple system examples, then continue to expand the concept and apply this approach in more complex systems as part of the toolkits for managing complexity.

Learning Objectives

After completing this week, you will be able to:

Define system complexity.
Describe the steps to systems decomposition.
Analyze the system architecture by applying systems decomposition.

Learning Materials

Lecture 1

Agenda

Topic: System Decomposition

Overview: This lecture introduces the approach of system decomposition, which is a powerful tool to analyze system architecture.

Material: Lecture Note (PDF)

About Lecture 1

Please go to Zoom Conferences in the left navigation pane to attend the session. If you cannot participate, you can view the session recording by going to the Zoom Conferences.

Please reach out to the instructor if you have questions.

Lecture 2

Agenda

Topic: Managing Complexity

Overview: This lecture expands the applications of system decomposition approach to more complex systems and introduces additional tools to manage complexity in systems.

Material: Lecture Note (PDF)

About Lecture 2

Please go to Zoom Conferences in the left navigation pane to attend the session. If you cannot participate, you can view the session recording by going to the Zoom Conferences.

Please reach out to the instructor if you have questions.

Readings

Read the following articles to familiarize yourself with the Airbus A320 crash in Warsaw, Poland on September 14th, 1993:

Lufthansa Flight 2904

Read now | Citation

Report on the Accident to Airbus A320-211 Aircraft in Warsa

Read now | Citation

Assignment

In this assignment, you will learn about the Airbus A320 crash in Warsaw, Poland, by reading several reports provided to them and conducting their research. You will then be tasked to answer four questions that guide them through the system decomposition and the analysis of this incident.

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