Model-based systems engineering

Model-based systems engineering (MBSE), according to the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE), is the formalized application of modeling to support system requirements, design, analysis, verification and validation activities beginning in the conceptual design phase and continuing throughout development and later life cycle phases. MBSE is a technical approach to systems engineering that focuses on creating and exploiting domain models as the primary means of information exchange, rather than on document-based information exchange. MBSE technical approaches are commonly applied to a wide range of industries with complex systems, such as aerospace, defense, rail, automotive, manufacturing, etc.

History
The first known prominent public usage of the term "Model-Based Systems Engineering" is a book by A. Wayne Wymore with the same name. The MBSE term was also commonly used among the SysML Partners consortium during the formative years of their Systems Modeling Language (SysML) open source specification project during 2003-2005, so they could distinguish SysML from its parent language UML v2, where the latter was software-centric and associated with the term Model-Driven Development (MDD). The standardization of SysML in 2006 resulted in widespread modeling tool support for it and associated MBSE processes that emphasized SysML as their lingua franca.

In September 2007, the MBSE approach was further generalized and popularized when INCOSE introduced its "MBSE 2020 Vision", which was not restricted to SysML, and supported other competitive modeling language standards, such as AP233, HLA, and Modelica. According to the MBSE 2020 Vision: "MBSE is expected to replace the document-centric approach that has been practiced by systems engineers in the past and to influence the future practice of systems engineering by being fully integrated into the definition of systems engineering processes."

As of 2014, the scope of MBSE started to cover more Modeling and Simulation topics, in an attempt to bridge the gap between system model specifications and related system software simulations. As a consequence, the term "modeling and simulation-based systems engineering" has also been increasingly associated along with MBSE.

According to the INCOSE SEBoK (Systems Engineering Book of Knowledge) MBSE may be considered a "subset of digital engineering". INCOSE hosts an annual meeting on MBSE, as well as MBSE working groups.