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The Systems Modeling Language (SysML) is a standard from the Object Management Group (OMG) to support the design, the analysis, and verification of complex systems which may include software and hardware components. SysML reuses parts of UML and additionally offers new language elements like value types, quantity kind, as well as the opportunity to describe the functionality of continuous systems [29]. One of the first intention for SysML was to give systems engineers a modeling language in hand which is not too software oriented [51]. SysML enables to model a wide variety of systems from different perspectives such as behavior, structure, or requirement. The temporarily last version 1.5 was released in May 2017. SysML has been in place for about thirteen years, and various papers capturing different aspects of this standard have been published at different venues by different research communities. Since SysML is used in multi-disciplinary engineering, there are large application fields where the language is used.
Abstract Submission deadline. 15 January 2018. 7 February 2018 Early Registration deadline. 28 February 2018 Late Registration deadline. Abstract deadline: 3 August 2015 Preregistration deadline: 1 December 2015 Manuscript deadline: 12 February 2016 Initial announcement published: March 2015.32nd Conference on Environmental Information Processing Technologies, 10–14 January, New Orleans, Louisiana Abstract deadline: 3 August 2015 Preregistration deadline: 1 December 2015.
To get a better overview of this huge number of contributions as well as to identify the relevance of SysML in scientific communities, we carried out a systematic mapping study by analyzing the abstracts of the different contributions. The study helps to generate knowledge by determining the application fields in which SysML is commonly used, which research groups are involved, etc. These insights help to identify trends to which direction SysML should be developed in future, also with respect to the ongoing discussion about SysML 2.0.
To put the aim of this article in a nutshell, we present inputs as well as outputs of the SysML mapping study and show a comprehensive overview of the evolution of SysML over a period of more than 10 years. Additionally, we identify open issues and discuss these issues in the conclusion of this article with regard to SysML 2.0. According to Kitchenham et al. [28], the findings and outlook may support the work of the following stakeholders:- Research: Scientists just started with research in the field of SysML may use this study as an overview and starting point for their work. Experienced researchers may also use it as reference to save time for in-depth studies and to accelerate the search for open issues.
- Industry: For industry, the findings give a good outline of the state of the art in SysML research. This may enable to transfer knowledge between academia and industry. Such knowledge transfer may push forward the realization of open issues in the vision of Industry 4.0 and cyber-physical systems [10]. At least, industry stakeholders may identify relevant and suitable research outputs for practical settings.
A and B we present references of all covered SysML papers, a list of books, and theses, which were not part of this survey.