TABLE OF CONTENTS One of the major outputs from the systems engineering processes is a complete set of documentation that accurately describes the designed system. It is not possible to understand the systems engineering processes without understanding how the documentation requirements fit into the overall system development effort. Every system development effort will have varying requirements with respect to the documentation set.
In addition to the documentation requirements, it is worth considering the role of standards in the overall design effort. These standards can take many forms, including military standards, international standards, and standards from recognized institutions, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) and the Electronic Industries Alliance (EIA). These standards bring together a wealth of knowledge and experience and provide the system designers with technical guidance during the system development.
Both standards and documentation requirements must be considered carefully by the customer organization before stipulating their use. Although documentation and the use of certain standards enhance the chances of project success, overdoing the requirements can add unnecessary overhead to the design effort. This overhead results in increased cost and longer acquisition schedules.
Specifications are documents produced (or procured) during the acquisition process that describe the system or system components to varying levels of detail. There are five main categories of specification applicable to system acquisition projects and these are described briefly in this section.
A system specification needs to state the requirements of the system in terms of both...
