Towards combinatorial evolution of composite systems

The paper describes combinatorial evolution of composite systems. The approach consists of the following stages: (i) design of general hierarchical structure of the examined system; (ii) design of structures for several series system generations; (iii) extraction of changes between the system generations as a set of change items and their evaluation (multicriteria analysis including usage of interval multiset estimates, binary relations over the items: compatibility, complementarity, precedence); (iv) combinatorial synthesis of system forecast(s) as selection of prospective change items while taking into account total constraint(s) (multiple choice problem) or morphological design while taking into account compatibility between the selected change items; (v) aggregation of the obtained system forecast into a resultant forecast. The approach was used for modeling of combinatorial evolution in several applications: (1) DSS COMBI for multicriteria ranking, (2) electronic equipment for image processing, (3) standard for transmission of multimedia information (MPEG, MPEG 2, MPEG 4), and (4) ZigBee communication protocol for wireless sensor network. In the article, the suggested approach is illustrated by evolution of three author courses on multicriteria decision making and modular system design. The following is presented: (a) hierarchical structures of the courses, (b) change items between the courses, (c) combinatorial design of prospective forecasts, (d) aggregation of the forecast into a resultant one.