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Advanced System Architecture >> Content Detail



Study Materials



Readings

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The following table lists readings assigned for each class session.

Course textbook: [Watts] = Amazon logo Watts, Duncan. Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Co., 2004. ISBN: 0393325423.

This downloadable book doubles as a user guide to UCINET software: Hanneman, R. A., and M. Riddle. Introduction to social network methods.


LEC #GOALSTOPICSREADINGS
1Introduction and Objectives - what we want to understand better and why it mattersSyllabus Review - Assignment etc. Timing

Vision(s) of Architecture Theory

Instructors Background and Biases Relative to System Architecture etc.
ESD Symposium Committee. "ESD Terms and Definitions (Version 17)." March 29, 2002. (PDF)

ESD Architecture Committee, D. L. Whitney - chair. "The Influence of Architecture in Engineering Systems." MIT Engineering Systems Monograph, March 31, 2004. (PDF)

Oltvai, Z. N., and A. Barabasi. "Life's Complexity Pyramid." Science 298 (October 25, 2002): 763-764.
A brief view of biology at several levels of aggregation.

Strogatz, S. H. "Exploring complex networks." Nature 410 (March 8, 2001): 268-276. (PDF)
A survey of important static and dynamic networks in several fields.
2Basic foundations for course emphasizing ways of thinking and biasesSystem Typologies and Systems of Interest in the Course

Terms and Definitions - Emphasis on Architecture, Complexity, Function, Performance, Uilities, Models, Constraints

Expansion on Key Concepts Beyond Definitions
Amazon logo Simon, H. A. "The Architecture of Complexity: Hierarchic Systems." Chapter 8 In The Architecture of Complexity. 3rd ed. Cambridge MA: MIT Press, 1996. ISBN: 0262691914.
3Have students begin to uncover their own biases and assumptions important in systems architectureStudent Presentations and Discussion

Brief Discussion of SDM Architecture Course

Brief Discussion of Assignment 2
4Introduction to Graphs, Networks, Hierarchies and DSM'sModels and Model Improvement

Graph Theory Introduction

Network "Science" History Including DSM's

Relationship of Architecture/Structure and Metrics (Importance of Data)
[Watts] Chapters 1-4

Hayes, Brian. "Graph Theory in Practice: Part I." American Scientist 88, no. 1 (2000): 9-13.

----. "Graph Theory in Practice: Part II." American Scientist 88, no. 2 (2000): 104-118. Background

Amazon logo Committee on Network Science for Future Army Applications, National Research Council. Network Science. Washington, DC: National Academies Press, 2006. ISBN: 0309653886.
Leading researchers assess the importance of "network science."
5Discussion and identification of focus systems whose architectures we will study all semester

Project Definition
Student Presentations on Systems for Deeper Study (Data Sources and Objectives)

Project Discussion and Choice Process

Choices/Assignments Finished on Weekend After Class
6Network Observational Methods and Quantitative Metrics I: Simple ConceptsNetwork Analysis Terminology

Social Networks Concepts: Centrality, Clustering, Prestige and Acquaintance

Degree Distribution, Assessment and Meaning of Power Laws
Newman, M. E. J. "Power laws, Pareto distributions and Zipf's law." Contemporary Physics 46 (2005): 323-351.
7Constraints IDeeper Discussion of Concept of Constraints

Power and Information as Clear Example of Constraints on System Structure

Implications to Structural Characteristics/Metrics

Effects on Modularity
Whitney, D. L. "Physical Limits to Modularity." (PDF)

Background

Amazon logo Skilling, H. H. "Impedence Matching." In Electrical Engineering Circuits. New York, NY: John Wiley and Sons, 1967, pp. 128-9. ISBN: 0471794007.
8Canonical structures and their organizational implicationsLinking Human and Technical Systems at the Structural Level

Cooperation and Competition

Teams/Families/Clans and the Emergence of Hierarchy

Hierarchy: Layers, Trees, Mixtures and Hybrids-routers and Interpreters

Cultural Links, Tradeoffs
9Complexity and FlexibilityComplexity and Flexibility for Canonical Structures

Abstractions in Algebra
[Watts] Chapter 9
10Network Observational MethodsDegree Correlation-introduction

Community Structure Approaches
Milo, R., et al. " Network Motifs: Simple Building Blocks of Complex Networks." Science 298 (25 October 2002): 824-827.

Newman, M. E. J. "Detecting community structure in networks." Eur Phys J B 38 (2004): 321-330. (PDF)

----. "The structure and function of complex networks." SIAM Review 45 (2003): 167-256.
This paper contains references needed to complete Assignment 3.
11Network Observational MethodsMotifs

Hierarchy of Function

Coarse-graining and Technical Systems

Revisit Modularity
Itzkovitz, S., et al. "Coarse-Graining and Self-Dissimilarity of Complex Networks." Physical Review E71 016127 (January 21, 2005) (PDF)
12Network ModelsTypology of Network Models - Predicting Structure/Metrics or Predicting "Properties" from Structure/Metrics and Level of Network Simplicity

Random Networks, Small-world and Preferentially Attached Networks

Cascades, Failures and Epidemics as an Example
[Watts] Chapters 6-8

Watts, D. J. "A simple model of global cascades on random networks." PNAS 99, no. 9 (April 30, 2002): 5766-5771.

Meyers, L. A., M. E. J. Newman, M. Martin and S. Schrag. "Applying network theory to epidemics: control measures for Mycoplasma pneumoniae outbreaks." Emerg Infect Dis (2003 February).
13Student Presentations on Project StatusShort Presentation by each Student Team and Discussion
14Affiliation Networks, Navigation and Search on NetworksMilgram Experiments

Early "Explanations" by Small World (and Random Network Models

Kleinberg I and II, Watts, Dodds and Newman

Search on the www
[Watts] Chapter 5

Watts, D. J., P. S. Dodds, and M. E. J. Newman. "Identity and Search in Social Networks." Science 296 (May 17, 2002): 1302-1305.
This paper (and Kleinberg 2001) introduced the idea of hierarchies in social identity and use it to model milgram's experiment relatively successfully.

Kleinberg, J. M. "Navigation in a small world." Nature 406 (August 24, 2000): 845. (PDF)
This paper was the first to note (and model) the diffcult part of Milgram's experiment.

----. "Small-World Phenomena and the Dynamics of Information." 2001. (PDF)
Kleinberg's second paper introducing hierarchy into social identity and thus succesfully modeling Milgram's experiment.
15Constraints II and Scaling and AllometryRevisit System Typology

Revisit Constraints

Explore Possible Implications on Structural Metrics

Scaling Laws in Different Contexts
West, G. B., J. H. Brown, and B. J. Enquist. "The 4th Dimension of Life: Fractal Geometry and Allometric Scaling of Organisms." Science 284 (June 4, 1999): 1677-1679.
A fractal derivation of 3/4 power law.

Banavar, J. R., A. Maritan, and A. Rinaldo. "Size and form in efficient transportation networks." Nature 399 (May 13, 1999): 130-132.
An efficient transport derivation of the ¾ power law.
16Enterprise ArchitecturesGermany, Japan and US Cultural Influences on Organizational Structure

Sloan, Oichi and Piore and Sable

Amazon logo Sloan, A. P. "Co-ordination by Committee," "The Management: How It Works," and "Change and Progress." Chapters 7, 23, and 24 in My Years with General Motors. Darby, PA: DIANE Publishing, 2004. ISBN: 0756783666.

Amazon logo Ouchi, W. G. Introduction, Chapters 1-3 in Theory Z: How American Business Can Meet the Japanese Challenge. New York, NY: Morrow/Avon, 1983. ISBN: 038059451X.

Amazon logo Piore, M. J., and C. F. Sabel. "The Craft Model of Shop Floor Control," and "The Eclipse of Craft Control in the Mass-Production Economy," "The Pieces Repositioned: Mass and Craft Production Abroad," and "History, Practice, and National Strategies." Chapters 6 and 9 in The Second Industrial Divide: Possibilities for Prosperity. New York, NY: Basic Books, 1986, pp.115-124. ISBN: 0465075614.

17Modeling Enterprise architectures Constraints - Social, Physical, Political, Time-based - and their effect on structure and behaviorResearch on Organizational Theory

Simple, Quantitative Models and their use in Model/Theory Improvement

Sah and Stiglitz

Dodds, Watts and Sable
Dodds, P. S., D. J. Watts, and C. F. Sabel. "Information exchange and the robustness of organizational networks." PNAS 100, no. 21 (Oct. 14, 2003): 12516-12521.
This paper uses network analysis techniques to model communication in a variety of organizational structures.
18Technical and some sociological networks compared in greater depthContinuation of Constraints and Scaling in Engineering Systems

Degree Correlation Patterns in Different Technical Systems
Gastner, M. T., and M. E. J. Newman. "Shape and efficiency in spatial distribution networks." J Stat Mech (2006): P01015.
19Student reports on their focus architecturesQuantitative Analyses and Model Building Status
20Second generation models of technological systemsInternet Models Including Business and Technical Tradeoffs

Air Transport Modeling Including the Role of Nodes

Complexity Metrics
Guimera, R., et al. "The Worldwide Air Transportation Network." PNAS 102, no. 22 (2005): 7794-7799.
This paper is the latest (more are coming) concerning the air transport system by a group centered at Northwestern Univ.

Doyle, J. C., et al. "The 'Robust yet fragile' nature of the Internet." PNAS 102, no. 41 (2005): 14497-14502.
This paper is the best summary of the important work done by a group at Cal Tech that brings engineering considerations into the network models of the Internet.
21Systematics in other fieldsTaxonomy in Early Biology

Taxonomy in Biology Today - Cladograms and the Cladists

Taxonomy in Economics - Econophysics and Dendrograms

Hierarchy Definition by Distance

Hierarchy by Betweenness
Amazon logo Gould, S. J. "What, If Anything, Is a Zebra." Chapter 28 in Hen's Teeth and Horse's Toes: Further Reflections in Natural History. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Co., 1994. ISBN: 0393311031.
A book chapter dealing with the issues and the history of "systematic" in Biology by one of the late 20th century's great bioligist writers and thinkers.

Amazon logo Mategna and Stanley. "Taxonomy of a Stock Portfolio." Chapter 13 in An Introduction to Econophysics. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 1999. ISBN: 0521620082.
22Standards and the practice of complex system architecture, design and standardsEngineering System Evolution and the Role of Standards

Standards in Different Systems

Standards as an Interdependent Set of Artifacts
David, P. A., and S. Greenstein. "The Economics of Compatibility Standards: An Introduction to Recent Research." Econ Innov New Techn 1 (1990): 3-41.
A fairly thorough (if a little old) review of standards as seen by economists.
23-24Final PresentationsLong Team Presentations
25Overall discussion of presentation and further elaboration of theory and architecture
26Final day of class-course wrap-up and discussion of quality of emerging models and theoretical needs

 








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