Modeling and assuring dependability of Systems of Systems

We study large socio-technical systems where many independent systems and people interact, and we develop ways to explain and improve safety, security, and resilience over time.

Detail

What is a System of Systems?

A System of Systems is a large structure where multiple independent systems work together to provide a service. Examples include road traffic systems, smart houses, and mobility-as-a-service.

These systems change over time. Their components, connections, and quality of service may all shift, which makes it hard to predict every possible situation in advance.

Detail

Why traditional design is not enough

In many SoS settings, it is difficult to build complete safety and security guarantees only at design time. New actors appear, systems evolve, and human decisions also affect the whole picture.

Because of this, dependability must be supported not only by initial design, but also by repeated analysis and explanation during operation.

Detail

Our research

We model and analyze socio-technical systems as Systems of Systems and study how to assure their overall dependability, including safety, security, and resilience.

Our work compares modeling approaches such as ArchiMate, STAMP, and FRAM, and also explores simpler graph-based descriptions. We further study agreement-building methods based on game theory and explanation methods using assurance cases and GSN.

Related publications

Papers and articles related to this project

A Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning-Based Resilience Engineering Method for Mobility-as-a-Service
Zhengshu Zhou, Weijie Yu, Tingting Zhao, Qian Long, Yutaka Matsubara, Hiroaki Takada, IEEE Transactions on Network and Service Management, 2026.
Consensus Based Resilience Assurance for System of Systems
Huanjun Zhang, Yutaka Matsubara, IEEE Access, 2025.
ArchiMate-Based System of Systems Resilience Evaluation Approach
Yutaka Matsubara and collaborators, Systems, 2025.
Comprehensive Dependability for Automated Driving
Yutaka Matsubara, Journal of Society of Automotive Engineers of Japan, 2024.

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