Designing Resilient Systems-of-Systems: A Survey of Metrics, Methods, and Challenges

TLDR: An evaluation of the various methods available and challenges associated with designing resilient SoSs is provided by indicating important differences between resilience and various related system attributes and providing a critical assessment of the current reliability and risk techniques in addressing SoS resilience.

Abstract: Resilience is the ability of a system to react to and recover from disturbances with minimal effect on its dynamic stability. While resilience has been the focus of research in several fields, in the case of systems-of-systems SoSs, addressing resilience is particularly interesting and challenging. As infrastructure SoSs, such as power, transportation, and communication networks, grow in complexity and interconnectivity, measuring and improving the resilience of these critical SoSs is vital in terms of safety and providing uninterrupted services. While the resilience of SoSs depends on the reliability of their constituent systems, traditional reliability and risk assessment approaches cannot adequately quantify their resilience. In this paper, we provide an evaluation of the various methods available and challenges associated with designing resilient SoSs by 1 indicating important differences between resilience and various related system attributes, 2 providing a critical assessment of the current reliability and risk techniques in addressing SoS resilience, and 3 discussing the application of recent multidisciplinary research that can guide the design of resilient SoS. Finally, we highlight key challenges in this design process and propose a series of research themes that can shape future research in this field.