IEEE 42010-2011 pdf download Systems and software engineering — Architecture description
systems as described in IEEE Std 1471:2000: “any system where softwaresoftware-intensivecontributes essential influences to the design, construction, deployment, and evolution of the system as awhole” to encompass “individual applications, systems in the traditional sense, subsystems, systems ofsystems, product lines, product families, whole enterprises, and other aggregations of interest”
This Internationa Standard takes no position on what constitutes a system within those domains-orelsewhere. The nature of systems is not defined by this International Standard.
This lnternational Standard is intended for use in the domains of systems listed above; however, nothingherein precludes its use for architecture descriptions of entities of interest outside of those domains (forexample, natural systems and conceptual systems).
The stakeholders of a svstem are parties with interests in that system. Stakeholders’ interests are expressedas concerns (see 4.2.3). Stakeholders ascribe various purposes to a system, Purposes are one kind ofconcerm.
NOTE 1The term purpose as used in this lnternational Standard derives from its use in ISO/EC 15288:2008, 4.31: asystem is a combination of interacting elements organized to achieve one or more stated purposes.
A system is situated in an environment. The environment determines the totality of influences upon the systemthroughout its life cycle, including its interactions with that environment. The environment of a system cancontain other systems.
NOTE 2In this intemational Standard, the environment of a system is bounded by and understood through theidentification and analysis of the system’s stakeholders and their concerns (see 4.2.3).
The architecture of a system constitutes what is essential about that system considered in relation to itsenvironment. There is no single characterization of what is essential or fundamental to a system: thatcharacterization could pertain to any or all of:
system constituents or elements;
how system elements are arranged or interrelated;
principles of the system’s organization or design; and
principles governing the evolution of the system over its life cycle
Architecture descriptions are used to express architectures for systems of interest (see 4.2.2).
NOTE 3The same system could be understood through several distinct architectures (for example, when considered indifferent environments).An architecture could be expressed through several distinct architecture descriptions (for examplewhen different architecture frameworks are employed). The same architecture could characterise more than one system(for example a family of systems sharing a common architecture)
4.2.2 Architectures and architecture descriptions
Architecture descriptions are work products of systems and software architecting.
Figure 2 depicts concepts pertaining to the practice of architecture description when applying this InternationalStandard to produce one architecture description expressing one architecture for one system-of-interest.
in this International Standard, the term system-of-interest (or simply, system) refers to the system whosearchitecture is under consideration in the preparation of an architecture description.