Patent ID: 8150665

Claim:
A method for modeling and managing requirements in a complex integrated system, comprising: characterizing via a processing unit each requirement in a set of a plurality of requirements implementable within a plurality of components of a complex integrated system as a unique numerical point value; assigning via the processing unit a requirement type from a set of first, second and third requirement types to each requirement in the set of requirements, wherein each of the first, second and third requirement types are different from each other; plotting via the processing unit each of the first type requirement unique numerical point values at spaced locations within one of a plurality of functional sector portions formed on a circumference of a first requirement type circle, each of the second type requirement unique numerical point values at spaced locations within one of a plurality of functional sector portions formed on a circumference of a second requirement type circle that is graphically displayed below the first circle, and each of the third type requirement unique numerical point values at spaced locations within one of a plurality of functional sector portions formed on a circumference of a third requirement type circle that is graphically displayed below the second and forms a column with the first and second circles, wherein each functional sector is determined as a function of a set of architectural principles; and drawing via the processing unit chords between unique numerical point values located on different ones of the first, second and third circles of requirements that are derived from a same parent system, the drawing further using any chord already existing and connecting the same functional sector portions of the different ones of the first, second and third circles.