Functional analysis and modeling
Functional analysis and modeling (engineering)
The discipline that addresses the activities that a system, a software, or an organization must perform to achieve its desired outputs; that is, what transformations are necessary to turn the available inputs into the desired outputs. Additional considerations include the flow of data or items between functions, the processing instructions that are available to guide the transformations, and the control logic that dictates the activation and termination of functions. Functional analysis diagrams have been developed to capture some or all of these concepts.
Functional analysis is performed in systems engineering, software systems engineering, and business process reengineering as a portion of the design process. These design processes typically involve the steps of requirements definition and analysis, functional analysis, physical or resource definition, and operational analysis. This last step of operational analysis involves the marriage of functions with resources to determine if the requirements are met. The concept of examining the logical architecture via functional analysis concurrent with the development of the physical architecture has become a well-accepted principle in the related fields of systems engineering, software engineering, and business process reengineering. See Reengineering, Software engineering, Systems engineering
Elements
There are four elements to be addressed by any specific functional analysis approach. First, the functions are represented as a hierarchical decomposition, in which there is a top-level function for the system or organization. The top-level function is partitioned into a set of subfunctions that use the same inputs and produce the same outputs as the top-level function. Each of these subfunctions can then be partitioned further, with the decomposition process continuing as often as it is useful.
Second, functional analysis diagrams can represent the flow of data or items among the functions within any portion of the functional decomposition. As the first and subsequent functional decompositions are examined, it is common for one function to produce outputs that are not useful outside the boundaries of the system or organizations. These outputs are needed by other functions in order to produce the needed and expected external outputs.
Processing instructions are a third element that appear in some functional analysis diagrams. These instructions contain the needed information for the functions to transform the inputs to the outputs.
The fourth element is the control flow that sequences the termination and activation of the functions so that the process is both efficient and effective.
Feedback and control
Feedback plays an important role in functional analysis and modeling. Feedback and control is the comparison of the actual characteristics of an output with desired characteristics of that output for the purpose of adjusting the process of transforming inputs into that output. Open-loop control processes may or may not make this measurement, but in either case make no adjustments to the process once started. Closed-loop control processes use measurements of the output as feedback for the purpose of adjusting or controlling the transformation process.