ContextIn contrast to traditional software systems that are mostly created from scratch, current software systems are engineered as a junction of systems already in operation. Examples can be found in domains, such as smart cities, crisis and emergency, IoT, big data, industry 4.0, and connected health systems. Most of them can be considered systems-of-systems (SoS), since they refer to alliances of operational and managerial independent software-intensive systems, which are sometimes distributed over different environments. Therefore, SoS software architectures must be dynamic, evolve over time, and support the execution of emergent behaviors to accomplish SoS missions. They must be also designed to enable the connection of heterogeneous systems, making possible their interoperation, communication, coordination, cooperation, and collaboration, most of the times, in a seamless way. Similar challenges have been addressed by using software mediators as architectural entities. However, the application of mediators in SoS has not been properly explored.GoalThis article introduces MediArch, a layered architecture that considers mediators as first-class software entities to be used in the construction of SoS architectures. Our objective is to present evidence about how MediArch’s can support the construction of SoS architectures.MethodsThe following four steps were conducted to define MediArch: (1) identification of mediation requirements to allow SoS properties; (2) establishment and categorization of twelve types of mediators, for enabling capabilities of communication and control of constituent systems interactions and conversion of heterogeneous messages exchanged through a mediation infrastructure; (3) specification of duties, behaviors, assumptions, and guarantees of mediators; and (4) organization of MediArch in three layers, namely, the constituents & consumer systems layer; the communication, conversion, & coordination layer; and the control layer. This architecture was used as the backbone for the software architectures of two SoS in different domains, namely, flood monitoring system-of-systems (FMSoS), and health-care supportive home system-of-systems (HSH-SoS), for providing evidence on how MediArch supports the architecting process of SoS.ResultsMediArch (1) supports the integration of independent constituent systems, (2) provides strategies to manage emergent behaviors, (3) defines different schemes of control authorities, (4) offers elements to support SoS evolution, and (5) promotes the resilience and adaptability of SoS architectures.ConclusionsAlthough MediArch contributes to the establishment of SoS architectures, some challenges related to performance, resource consumption, security, safety, and non-disruptive reconfigurations must still be overcome.

中文翻译：

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作为系统的系统软件架构的一流实体的软件中介

上下文与大多数从头开始创建的传统软件系统相比，当前的软件系统被设计为已经在运行的系统的连接点。示例可以在智慧城市、危机和紧急情况、物联网、大数据、工业 4.0 和互联健康系统等领域找到。它们中的大多数可以被视为系统的系统 (SoS)，因为它们指的是运营和管理独立的软件密集型系统的联盟，这些系统有时分布在不同的环境中。因此，SoS 软件架构必须是动态的，随着时间的推移而发展，并支持紧急行为的执行以完成 SoS 任务。它们还必须被设计成能够连接异构系统，使它们的互操作、通信、协调、合作和协作成为可能，大多数时候，以无缝的方式。使用软件中介作为架构实体已经解决了类似的挑战。然而，中介在SoS中的应用还没有得到很好的探索。目标本文介绍了MediArch，一种分层架构，将中介视为一流的软件实体，用于构建SoS架构。我们的目标是提供有关 MediArch 如何支持 SoS 架构构建的证据。方法 执行以下四个步骤来定义 MediArch： (1) 确定中介要求以允许 SoS 属性；（二）十二类调解员的设置和分类；用于实现组成系统交互的通信和控制能力以及通过中介基础设施交换的异构消息的转换；（三）明确调解员的职责、行为、承担和保证；(4) MediArch的组织结构分为三层，即成分&消费者系统层；通信、转换和协调层；和控制层。该架构被用作不同领域的两个 SoS 软件架构的骨干，即洪水监测系统系统 (FMSoS) 和医疗保健支持家庭系统系统 (HSH-SoS)，用于提供关于 MediArch 如何支持 SoS.ResultsMediArch (1) 的架构过程的证据，支持独立组成系统的集成，