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Architecture Frameworks

The specification of architecture frameworks is one area of standardization under considered in the revision of IEEE 1471, ISO/IEC 42010. In the current draft, architecture framework is defined as:

conventions and common practices for architecture description established within a specific domain or stakeholder community

I am collecting a list of current architecture frameworks. Any inputs and additions would be appreciated. Please include: Name, Purpose, Scope, Brief description and URL (or literature references).

Thanks to the following for their inputs: Takahiro Yamada (RASDS), Sly Gryphon (IFW), Alexander Ernst (EAM-PC), Nic Plum (TRAK).

ABBR Name Purpose Scope Classifiers Notes AF-EAF Air Force Enterprise Architecture Framework

"The AF Enterprise Architecture Framework (AF-EAF) provides a logical structure for classifying, organizing and relating the breadth and depth of information that describes and documents the Air Force Enterprise Architecture (AF-EA)."

Air Force IT systems Communication, Guidance, Enterprise Architecture Descriptions

"The AF-EAF does not define the AF-EA content, rather it consists of various approaches, models, and definitions for communicating and facilitating the presentation of key architecture components (i.e. architecture vision, governance, principles, guidance, products, etc.) required for the development and integration of AF architectures. The AF-EAF establishes a common foundation for understanding, comparing and integrating architectures and as such provides the overarching guidance for generating AF architectures."

[Quotes from AF-EAF v2.01, 6 June 2003]

AUSDAF Australian Defence Architecture Framework Artifact Description/Viewpoints

"An architecture framework specifies a method of organising an enterprise or systems architecture into a collection of views that are consistent and complementary. The views can be textual, tabular,diagrammatic, or pictorial."

"The Australian Defence Architecture Framework (AUSDAF) is also based on DoDAF. It includes a set of Common Views (CVs) instead of All Views (AVs) and it is likely that the next revision [2] will contain additional views such as Strategic Views, Acquisition Views and Human Views."

It is difficult to find much information on AUSDAF. Quotes from: [Harris, Graham, King Bieri, "From DAF To Sim: Simulation Support To Capability Engineering"]

AAF Automotive Architecture Framework Architecture framework for the automotive industry "an umbrella for the description of the entire vehicle system across all functional andd engineering domains" Artifact Description/Viewpoints

Viewpoints: functional, logical, technical, information, driver/vehicle operations, value/net.

M. Broy et al., Automotive Architecture Framework, TUM-I0915, IBM and Technische Universitaet Muenchen, 2009.

DoDAF Department of Defense Architecture Framework Artifact Description/Viewpoints Operational, System and Technical E2AF Extended Enterprise Architecture Framework Communication, Description

"E2AF by itself is a Communication Framework describing the topics and relations that can be addressed during an architecture program. The purpose of E2AF is to communicate with all the stakeholders involved in the program."

Extended enterprise viewpoint sets: Economic, Legal, Ethical and Discretionary.

Quotes from: [E2AF]

EAM-PC EAM Pattern Catalog A pattern-based approach to Enterprise Architecture Management Enterprise Architecture Management

"The objective of the EAM Pattern Catalog is to complement existing Enterprise Architecture (EA) management frameworks, which provide a holistic and generic view on the problem of EA management, and to provide additional detail and guidance needed to systematically establish EA management in a step-wise fashion within an enterprise."

"The EAM Pattern Catalog is a pattern language for EAM, which is made up of 164 EAM patterns and EAM anti patterns. Three types of EAM patterns are differentiated. M-Patterns document processes and roles required to address the concerns of companies in EAM. These M-Patterns use V-Patterns, which document viewpoints for EAM. In order to be able to create views according to the viewpoints documented in V-Patterns, certain information is required. This is documented as information models (metamodels) in I-Patterns. Those three EAM pattern types constitute proven practices found at project partners, in academia, or in literature. Complementing these EAM patterns, EAM anti patterns document solutions, which have proven not to be successful to prevent blind alleys."

[EAM-PC]

FEAF US Federal Enterprise Architecture Framework

"The Federal Enterprise Architecture Framework promotes shared development for common Federal processes, interoperability, and sharing of information among Federal Agencies and other Governmental entities."

"The Federal Enterprise Architecture Framework is recommended for use in the following [enterprise IT] efforts[:] Federal Governmentwide efforts; Multi-Federal Agency (i.e., two or more Agencies) efforts; Whenever Federal business areas and substantial Federal investments are involved with international, State, or local governments"

"The Framework provides a sustainable mechanism for identifying, developing, and documenting architecture descriptions of high priority areas built on common business areas and designs that cross organizational boundaries."

"Architecture Description: An architecture representation or blueprint prepared in accordance with a framework."

Viewpoints: Business, Design, Focus: Data (what), Application (how), Technology (where), Stakeholders: Planner, Owner, Designer, Builder, Subcontractor

[FEAF], version 1.1, 1999.

FMLS-ADF FMLS Architecture Description Framework 3.0 (SE)

To "enable description of architectures for systems with the qualities required by SwAF: Cost effectiveness through reuse of services and systems; Flexibility to support changing conditions and new unique missions, enabling a situation adapted system assembly and configuration – SitSyst; Support for service oriented behavior as well as integration of legacy systems; Enabling incorporation and use of commercially available systems; Enabling interoperability with coalition partners and civil governmental agencies; Supporting a system of system structure providing flexibility through loosely coupled systems elements"

"All FMLS 2010 systems in a system of system context" Description

"The Architecture Description Framework governs which architecture types to use and which templates to use when describing a system from an architectural point of view. These templates are today based on NATO/NAF v2, but modified to support additional demands."

"The architecture description framework supports: three horizons and levels of detail: long-term, medium-term and short related; six aspects of architecture: domain (business), information system, information, infrastructure, security and governance; and [the] definition and deployment of systems"

[FMLS-ADF], issue 3, 2007.

FSAM Federal Segment Architecture Methodology (FSAM) [FSAM] GA Garland and Anthony architecture method J. Garland and R. Anthony. Large Scale Software Architecture: A Practical Guide Using UML. John Wiley and Sons, 2002 GEAF Gartner's Enterprise Architecture Framework

Architecture framework: "the theoretical constructs used to organize an enterprise's thinking around the subject of architecture"

Viewpoints: Enterprise Business, Enterprise Information and Enterprise Technology. Its "aspect-oriented approach allows for the articulation of additional viewpoints, should the organization require them."

TR G00133132, The Gartner Group, November 2005.

GERA ISO 15704 Generic Enterprise Reference Architecture "requirements for enterprise-reference architectures and methodologies" "all types of enterprise creation projects as well as any incremental change projects"

Viewpoints: Function, Information, Resource, Organization; Customer Service and Product, Management and Control; Human Implemented Tasks, Auotmated Tasks; Software, Hardware. Extensible to additional viewpoints.

ISO 15704 Industrial automation systems — Requirements for enterprise-reference architectures and methodologies, 2000

IAF Index Architecture Framework Methodology IFW IBM Information FrameWork (IFW)

"The Information FrameWork is a family of data, process and object models to help financial institutions transform cross-enterprise architectures."

"Industry-specific to financial services system architectures, in particular banking. Viewpoints include organization, business and technical views, including models for an organization model, financial services data model, financial services function model, financial services workflow model, financial services object model and critical business process model."

Classification

"Information FrameWork models identify and define over 80% of the data, process and software component requirements of a universal financial institution, operating in an international environment. The Information FrameWork model set is highly detailed, customizable and built on open industry standards including UML and XML. Data can be mapped from one model to another. By providing a set of predefined business templates, a framework enables the scoping, specification and design of information solutions to business challenges." [IFW-1] [IFW-2] (original creator)

4+1 Kruchten's 4+1 view model architecture method, viewpoint set Viewpoints: Logical, Physical, Process, Developer, Scenarios MACCIS MACCIS 2.0 – An Architecture Description Framework for Technical Infostructures and their Enterprise Environment (NO) MODAF (UK) Ministry of Defence Architecture Framework Artifact Description/Viewpoints

Viewpoints: Operational, Systems, Technical, Strategic, Acquisition [MODAF]

NAF NATO C3 Systems Architecture Framework Artifact Description, Viewpoints NIST-EAM NIST Enterprise Architecture Model RASDS Reference Architecture for Space Data Systems provide a standard description method data systems to support space missions Artifact Description/Viewpoints

RASDS is intended to provide a standardized approach for description of data system architectures and high-level designs. [RASDS]

RM-ODP ISO Reference Model for Open Distributed Processing Open distributed processing systems

RM-ODP calls itself an architecture framework. ISO/IEC 10746-1 Information technology – Open Distributed Processing – Reference Model: Overview.

Viewpoints: Enterprise, Information, Computational, Engineering, and Technology.

[RM-ODP]
S4V Siemens 4 Views Method, Viewpoint set

C. Hofmeister, R. L. Nord, and D. Soni. Applied Software Architecture. Addison-Wesley, 2000

SSA Rozanski and Woods Method, Viewpoint set

N. Rozanski and E. Woods. Software Systems Architecture: Working With Stakeholders Using Viewpoints and Perpectives. Addison Wesley, 2005

Viewpoints:

Perspectives:

TEAF (US) Treasury Enterprise Architecture Framework Development/Investment Guide TOGAF The Open Group Architecture Framework Methodology [TOGAF] TRAK The Rail Architecture Framework

a) to provide a means of describing future and current rail architecture

b) provide a means of interchange of architectural models that is independent of company or project

c) encourage re-use and collaboration on modelling of complex systems

TRAK is primarily aimed at transportation and rail sectors.

TRAK is based on MODAF. In adapting the MODAF metamodel domain-specific constructs have been removed and some subtle but important changes made, for example in representing a 'system' as a Capability Configuration, rather than as a type of Physical Asset as it is within MODAF. allowing for a better and more generic model of a system and its physical, software and human parts. The views are domain-free but there is a lot of historical interest in views overlaid on geographical layouts i.e. instances and location is important so there might be rail-oriented views in the future. This will depend on the analysis of the diagrams produced by the various functional disciplines and whether/how they fit into an architecture.

Viewpoints: A list of the viewpoints and the concerns addressed by each is at TRAK viewpoints.

TRAK also has the following perspectives:- Capability: concerned with the overall enterprise and capabilities needed; Operational: concerned with the logical ‘what’ or problem; Procurement: concerned with projects and delivery of solutions (to provide the capabilities needed); Solution: concerned with the behavioural and physical aspects of the solution; Management: concerned with the management of the model, architectural views, the architecture task.

[TRAK]

ZF Zachman Framework Classification Scheme [ZF]

Notes

What does Mr Google say:

"architecture framework" - 197,000 hits. The clear winner!

"architecture description framework" - 301 hits.

"architecture content framework" - 401 hits.

"architecture process framework" - 134 hits.