  This paper introduces a framework for studying the interactions of autonomous
system components and the design of the connectivity structure in Systems of
Systems (SoSs). This framework, which uses complex network models, is also used
to study the connectivity structure's impact on resource management. We discuss
resource sharing as a mechanism that adds a level of flexibility to distributed
systems and describe the connectivity structures that enhance components'
access to the resources available within the system. The framework introduced
in this paper explicitly incorporates costs of connection and the benefits that
are received by direct and indirect access to resources and provides measures
of the optimality of connectivity structures. We discuss central and a
distributed schemes that, respectively, represent systems in which a central
planner determines the connectivity structure and systems in which distributed
components are allowed to add and sever connections to improve their own
resource access. Furthermore, we identify optimal connectivity structures for
systems with various heterogeneity conditions.
