## 3 Connectivity as a Design Function  
Because of its effect on the fundamental architecture of a product, as well as its cost, the process that spans the conception of a product through the detailed design is critical. Figure 2: A frame to describe the interaction among different elements that constitute the intelligence provided by I4.0. For example, [PERSON] et al. [34] estimated that 75% of the cost of an automobile is defined during this stage. During this process, methodologies based on functional decomposition or functional reasoning have proved to be powerful tools to help designers arrive at robust product architectures. The main advantages of Functional-based design methodologies are simplicity, and the fact that, by looking at functions to be performed, designers are not constrained a priori to particular configurations [35]. Furthermore, functional analysis and functional decomposition are powerful tools for the purpose of declaring the mission of the system. One of the most basic tools for functional analysis was introduced for the process of Value Analysis, a technique that seeks to characterize and manage the costs incurred in performing functions [36]. The basic idea is to identify functions, which are expressed in terms of a verb and a subject, and then categorize them in a structured manner in a diagram. Basic functions are those needed for a specific system or component to fulfill its mission. Support functions add value to the product, or perform critical complementary functions. There is no extra credit for performing basic functions, and typical support functions include \"provide safety\" or reliability. This type of diagram was originally intended for the analysis of a product, and not for design. Functional decomposition evolves from this type of analysis and has been used as a reliable method to generate alternate designs that are later evaluated automatically in terms of the sustainability of the different proposals [37]. There are inherent advantages of applying it early on during the design process. Depending on the detail of the diagram, certain functions can be correlated to physical components. The diagram also alerts the designer to the need to include functions that may not be essential to the mission of the product but crucial for a successful introduction. While the normal functional analysis tree provides insights into the way functions can be delivered, it has limitations. For example, functional trees are not easily integrated with more sophisticated tools such as CAD systems, to support synthetic design [38]. This type of diagram was not originally designed to represent the features such as the flow of energy and materials or human intervention in the system's performance. In their work designing CPS systems for automobile applications, [PERSON] et al. [34] addressed these limitations by conceptualizing functions in terms of energy, materials, and signal flows. Of particular interest is the work of [PERSON] et al. [39], who proposed a model to incorporate safety as a function during the design process of CPS. In this work, they used systems modeling to represent the process of decomposing system function structures acting on flows. From these, components were identified to implement those functions and their architecture. They argue that this approach is useful for implementing safety, particularly for components that perform multiple functions, and for the design of controls. Based on the previous discussion, this work looked at introducing a function to include Connectivity from the early stages of design. The proposed block diagram of the function \"provide connectivity\" is shown in Figure 3. There are actions associated with this function: Collect data, preprocessing the data, and deliver data. Preprocessing the data may include further actions such as classification and cleaning.