Ontological Analysis of Functional Decomposition

Authors:
Patryk Burek;Heinrich Herre;Frank Loebe
Affiliations:
Institute for Medical Informatics, Statistics and Epidemiology, University of Leipzig;Institute for Medical Informatics, Statistics and Epidemiology, University of Leipzig;Department of Computer Science, University of Leipzig
Venue:
Proceedings of the 2009 conference on New Trends in Software Methodologies, Tools and Techniques: Proceedings of the Eighth SoMeT_09
Year:
2009

Citing 5
Cited 3

Yourdon systems method: model-driven systems development

Yourdon systems method: model-driven systems development
A translation approach to portable ontology specifications

Knowledge Acquisition - Special issue: Current issues in knowledge modeling
Business Modeling With UML: Business Patterns at Work

Business Modeling With UML: Business Patterns at Work
Structured Systems Analysis: Tools and Techniques

Structured Systems Analysis: Tools and Techniques
Object-Process Methodology: A Holistic Systems Paradigm

Object-Process Methodology: A Holistic Systems Paradigm

On the ontology of functions

Applied Ontology - The Ontology of Functions
If engineering function is a family resemblance concept: Assessing three formalization strategies

Applied Ontology - The Ontology of Functions
Ontological modelling of form and function for architectural design

Applied Ontology

Quantified Score

Hi-index	0.00

Visualization

Abstract

Functional decomposition is a popular technique applied not only in software engineering but also in business modeling and in technical devices design. As its principle it takes a functional view on a system and analyzes it in terms of functions. However, despite its popularity the notion of functional decomposition seems not to be clear-cut and as such may lead to ambiguities in models based on it. The current paper presents the results of the ontological analysis of the notion of functional decomposition. In particular, various relations between functions which may underlie functional decomposition are analyzed and put into the cohesive framework of the Ontology of Functions (OF), which is proposed to be used as a foundation for functional modeling.