System Integration

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Definition of ‘Far World’

My definition of ‘far world’ is the group of systems, or sub-systems, with which your system needs to indirectly interact with.

 

If you have a  Video Cassette Recorder (VCR) it probably sits near your DVD player, sometimes VCRs can interfere with DVD players.  It may be the case that the VCR is at fault, it doesn’t comply with emission standards, but it affects the DVD manufacturer.  If the DVD player gets a reputation for being susceptible to interference no one will buy your make, its not your fault but you have to take the possibility of sub-standard VCRs when designing your DVD player.

 

Another example is a MP3 player, would you buy one that stopped working every time you walked past a street light?  The fault is with the street light but the customer does not see it like that, they just stop buying the MP3 player.

 

Given that the world is becoming more ‘connected’ the systems that your system needs to work with is expanding, i.e. the ‘far - world’ is becoming a lot bigger and a lot closer.