Specification and Deployment of a Semantic Database for System Configuration Management

Abstract

During the system lifecycle, the evolution of the configuration of the different system components must be recorded, and their coherence and consistency must be kept and reported. In the case of complex systems whose components are built by different companies, configuration data integration becomes complex due to the lack of well-defined industrial standards and tools.

This paper reports a case study conducted on a company working on the aerospace sector. A solution based on semantic web technologies and standards was developed for managing system configurations, support CM reporting and auditing. The proposed solution is based on the definition of an ontology using as a basis the European Space Agency CM standards for systems engineering. The proposed solution provides the flexibility needed to accommodate additional customer specific requirements on CM and reporting. It also facilitates report generation and data exchange between different companies participating in the development of system’s components.