ISO/IEC/IEEE DIS 42010

Software, systems and enterprise -- Architecture description

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DRAFT INTERNATIONAL STANDARD
ISO/IEC/IEEE/DIS 42010
ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 7 Secretariat: BIS
Voting begins on: Voting terminates on:
2020-12-16 2021-03-10
Software, systems and enterprise — Architecture
description
ICS: 35.080
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ISO/IEC/IEEE/DIS 42010:2020(E)
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ISO/IEC/IEEE/DIS 42010:2020(E)
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ISO/IEC/IEEE/DIS 42010:2020(E)
Contents Page

Foreword ..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................v

Introduction ..............................................................................................................................................................................................................................vii

1 Scope ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 1

2 Normative references ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 1

3 Terms and definitions ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 2

4 Conformance ............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 5

5 Conceptual foundations ................................................................................................................................................................................ 6

5.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 6

5.2 Conceptual models of an architecture description .................................................................................................. 6

5.2.1 Context of an architecture description ......................................................................................................... 6

5.2.2 Architectures and architecture descriptions ........................................................................................... 7

5.2.3 Stakeholders and concerns ..................................................................................................................................... 7

5.2.4 Stakeholder perspectives ......................................................................................................................................... 9

5.2.5 Architecture aspects ..................................................................................................................................................10

5.2.6 Architecture considerations ................................................................................................................................10

5.2.7 Architecture views and architecture viewpoints ..............................................................................10

5.2.8 Model kinds, legends and architecture view components ........................................................11

5.2.9 View methods ..................................................................................................................................................................12

5.2.10 Architecture description (AD) elements ..................................................................................................13

5.2.11 AD correspondence ....................................................................................................................................................13

5.2.12 AD element correspondence ..............................................................................................................................14

5.2.13 Architecture decisions and rationale ..........................................................................................................15

5.3 Architecture description in the life cycle .......................................................................................................................15

5.4 Architecture description frameworks and languages ........................................................................................15

5.4.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................................................................15

5.4.2 Architecture description frameworks ........................................................................................................16

5.4.3 Architecture description languages .............................................................................................................18

6 Specification of an architecture description ........................................................................................................................19

6.1 Introduction ...........................................................................................................................................................................................19

6.2 Architecture description identification and overview .......................................................................................20

6.3 Identification of concerns ...........................................................................................................................................................20

6.4 Identification of stakeholder perspectives ..................................................................................................................21

6.5 Identification of architecture aspects ...............................................................................................................................21

6.6 Inclusion of architecture viewpoints ................................................................................................................................22

6.7 Inclusion of architecture views ..............................................................................................................................................22

6.8 Inclusion of view components ................................................................................................................................................23

6.9 Recording of architecture relations ...................................................................................................................................24

6.9.1 Consistency within an architecture description ................................................................................24

6.9.2 Correspondences ..........................................................................................................................................................24

6.9.3 Correspondence methods .....................................................................................................................................24

6.10 Recording of architecture decisions and rationale ...............................................................................................25

6.10.1 Decision recording ......................................................................................................................................................25

6.10.2 Rationale recording ....................................................................................................................................................26

7 Architecture description frameworks and architecture description languages ............................26

7.1 Specification of an architecture description framework .................................................................................26

7.2 Specification of an architecture description language.......................................................................................27

8 Architecture viewpoints and model kinds .............................................................................................................................28

8.1 Specification of an architecture viewpoint ..................................................................................................................28

8.2 Specification of a model kind ...................................................................................................................................................28

8.3 View methods .......................................................................................................................................................................................29

Annex A (informative) Notes on terms and concepts .......................................................................................................................30

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ISO/IEC/IEEE/DIS 42010:2020(E)

Annex B (informative) Guide to specification of architecture viewpoints .................................................................41

Annex C (informative) Relationship to other standards ...............................................................................................................45

Annex D (informative) Uses of architecture descriptions ...........................................................................................................49

Annex E (informative) Architecture and architecture description life cycles ........................................................51

Annex F (informative) Architecture description frameworks ................................................................................................53

Bibliography .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................58

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ISO/IEC/IEEE/DIS 42010:2020(E)
Foreword

ISO (International Organization for Standardization) and the IEC (the International Electrotechnical

Commission) form the specialized system for worldwide standardization. National bodies that are

members of ISO or IEC participate in the development of International Standards through technical

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Further information may be obtained from ISO or the IEEE Standards Association.

ISO/IEC IEEE 42010 was prepared by Joint Technical Committee ISO/IEC JTC 1, Information technology,

Subcommittee SC 7, Software and systems engineering, in cooperation with the Software and Systems

Engineering Standards Committee of the Computer Society of the IEEE, under the Partner Standards

Development Organization cooperation agreement between ISO and IEEE.

This second edition of ISO/IEC IEEE 42010 cancels and replaces ISO/IEC IEEE 42010:2011, which has

been technically revised.
The main changes compared to the previous edition are as follows:

— The term used to refer to the subject of an architecture description is changed from “system” to

“entity” to be compatible with ISO/IEC IEEE 42020 and ISO/IEC IEEE 42030 standards and to allow

for its application in non-system architecture situations.

— Architecture description element, introduced in the 2011 edition (see 4.2.6, 5.7 and A.6 of that

edition) is now defined in Clause 3 as a generic description concept allowing representing at least

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ISO/IEC/IEEE/DIS 42010:2020(E)

stakeholders, concerns, perspectives, and aspects identified in an AD, and views, view components,

viewpoints, and model kinds included in an AD.

— Architecture aspect and stakeholder perspective concepts are added to accommodate current

practice where these ideas are prevalent.

— Correspondences between architecture descriptions is distinguished from correspondence between

architecture description elements.

— The term architecture view component is introduced as a separable portion of one or more

architecture views. This change is to account for the fact that some parts of a view are model based

while others might not be. View component can be derived from an information source, which can

sometimes be a model.

— Model based view components are governed by model kinds. Non-model-based view components

are governed by legends.

— The concept of architecture viewpoint is updated to accommodate current practice where a

viewpoint governs one or more architecture views.

— The figures of this document use an informal entity-relationship diagram notation to facilitate

comprehension by readers of this document. The multiplicities of the relationships are explained in

the text when necessary.

— Annex E illustrates a few concepts pertaining to architecture life cycles and architecture description

life cycles.

— Annex F show an interpretation of how some Architecture Description Frameworks could comply

with requirements of this document.
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ISO/IEC/IEEE/DIS 42010:2020(E)
Introduction

The complexity of human-made entities has grown to an unprecedented level. This has led to new

opportunities, and also increased challenges for organizations that create and use these entities.

Concepts, principles and procedures of architecting are increasingly applied by organizations, teams

and individuals, to help manage the complexity faced by stakeholders of these entities.

Examples of entities include the following: enterprise, organization, solution, system (including

software systems), subsystem, processes, business, data (as a data item or data structure), application,

information technology (as a collection), mission, product, service, software item, hardware item,

product line, family of systems, system of systems, collection of systems, collection of applications, etc.

An architecture of an entity, expressed in an architecture description (AD), assists in understanding of

the fundamental properties of the entity, pertaining to its structure, behaviour, design and evolution,

such as feasibility, utility and maintainability and fundamental concepts for its development, operation,

employment and uses.

Architecture descriptions (ADs) are used by the parties that create, use and manage human-made

entities to improve communication and cooperation, enabling all parties, organizations teams and

individuals to work together in an integrated, coherent fashion. Architecture description frameworks

(ADFs) and architecture description languages (ADLs) are used to codify the conventions and common

practices of architecting and the description of architectures within different communities and

domains of application.

ADs have many uses, such as design, development, documentation, analysis, evaluation, maintenance,

risk mitigation, down-stream user specifications, tool specification, communication, planning,

guidance, life cycle support, decision support, review, training, design validation, solution trade studies,

cost comparison and analysis, by a variety of stakeholders throughout the life cycles of their entities of

interest. Annex D describes a variety of uses of an AD.

This document provides core terms, definitions and relationships for the ADs. The provisions of this

document serve to specify desired properties of ADs. This document also gives provisions that specify

desired properties of ADFs and ADLs in order to usefully support the development and use of ADs. This

document provides a basis on which to consider and compare ADFs and ADLs by providing a common

ontology for specifying their content.

This document can be used to establish a coherent practice for developing ADs, ADFs and ADLs within

an organization the context of a life cycle of an entity of interest or its architecture. This document

can further be used to assess conformance of specifications of ADs, ADFs, ADLs, viewpoints and model

kinds with the provisions of this document.

Users of this document are advised to consult Clause 5 to gain appreciation of the conceptual

foundations, along with the concepts and principles associated with an AD work product.

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DRAFT INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO/IEC/IEEE/DIS 42010:2020(E)
Software, systems and enterprise — Architecture
description
1 Scope

This document specifies requirements on the structure and expression of architecture descriptions

(ADs) for various entities, including software, systems, enterprises, systems of systems, families of

systems, products (goods or services), product lines, service lines, technology, and business domains. In

this document, the term entity of interest refers to the entity whose architecture is under consideration

in the preparation of an architecture description (AD).

This document distinguishes the architecture of an entity of interest from an AD expressing that

architecture. ADs, not architectures, are the subject of this document. Whereas an AD is a tangible

work product, an architecture is intangible and abstract that can be understood through its concepts,

properties and principles.

This document specifies requirements on use of the architectural concepts and their relationships

captured in an AD and does not specify requirements for any entity of interest or its environment.

This document specifies requirements on architecture description frameworks (ADFs), architecture

description languages (ADLs), architecture viewpoints and model kinds in order to usefully support the

development and use of ADs. This document also provides motivations for use of architecture-related

terms and concepts in other documents such as guides and standards.

This document specifies conformance to the requirements on ADs, ADFs, ADLs, viewpoints, and

model kinds.

This document does not explicitly address completeness or correctness of an AD. Nevertheless,

completeness and correctness of an AD can be partially checked, for example, through the consistency

of the AD elements established, whether relationships are transitive, and whether AD elements are

shown in the respective views. Consistency rules can also be defined with respect to showing the same

particular AD element has correspondences with an AD.

This document does not specify the processes, architecting methods, models, notations, techniques or

tools by which an AD is created, utilized or managed.
[17]

NOTE ISO/IEC IEEE 42020 specifies a set of processes for architecting which can be employed in support

of creating one or more ADs. The architecture elaboration process in that standard is especially relevant for

creation of ADs.

This document does not specify any format or media for recording ADs. The intent of this document is

to enable a range of consistent and coherent approaches to AD including document-centric and model-

based techniques.
2 Normative references
There are no normative references in this document.
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ISO/IEC/IEEE/DIS 42010:2020(E)
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.

ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:

— IEC Electropedia: available at http:// www .electropedia .org/
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at https:// www .iso .org/ obp/ ui

— IEEE Standards Dictionary Online: available at https:// ieeexplore .ieee .org/ xpls/ dictionary .jsp

Note 1 to entry Access to the IEEE Standards Dictionary Online requires a free IEEE account. It does not require

IEEE membership or any subscription fee.

Definitions for other related terms typically can be found in ISO/IEC IEEE 24765, System and software

engineering – Vocabulary, av a i l able at ht t p:// w w w . c omput er . or g / s e vo c ab .

3.1
architecting

conceiving, defining, expressing, documenting, communicating, certifying proper implementation of,

maintaining and improving an architecture (3.2) throughout the life cycle of an entity of interest (3.12)

[SOURCE: ISO/IEC IEEE 42020, modified – The term “entity of interest” replaced “architecture entity”.]

3.2
architecture

fundamental concepts or properties related to an entity in its environment (3.13) and governing

principles for the realization and evolution of this entity and its related life cycle processes

[SOURCE: ISO/IEC IEEE 42020, modified – The words “related to” replaced “of”.]
3.3
architecture aspect

unit of modularization of concerns within an architecture description (3.4), capturing characteristics

or features of the entity of interest (3.12)

Note 1 to entry: Aspects enable the architect to analyse, address and structure architecture concerns. In general,

there is a many-to-many relation between aspects and concerns. An aspect can pertain either to an entity of

interest, to an architecture, or to an environment (such as to a situation or action).

EXAMPLE Functional, structural and informational aspects of an architecture.
Note 2 to entry: See 5.2.5 for more discussion and examples.

Note 3 to entry: The identification of an aspect is often the result of prior knowledge, experience and praxis in

the domain to which the aspect applies.

Note 4 to entry: Cross-cutting concerns can be shared among perspectives of stakeholders.

3.4
architecture description
work product used to express an architecture (3.2)

Note 1 to entry: An AD is a tangible representation of information provided to the stakeholders. In other words, it

can also be considered as an information item.

Note 2 to entry: A work product is an artefact produced by a process [SOURCE: ISO/IEC 20246:2017, Software

and systems engineering — Work product reviews, 3.19]
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ISO/IEC/IEEE/DIS 42010:2020(E)

Note 3 to entry: The subject of an architecture description is the architecture of an entity of interest

3.5
architecture description element
AD element
part of an architecture description (3.4) that expresses the architecture

Note 1 to entry: AD elements include stakeholders, concerns, perspectives, and aspects identified in an AD, and

views, view components, viewpoints, and model kinds included in an AD.

Note 2 to entry: For the purpose of correspondences, an architecture description can be considered as an AD

element in another Architecture description.
3.6
architecture description framework
ADF

conventions, principles and practices for the description of architectures (3.2) established within a

specific domain of application or community of stakeholders (3.18)
[10]

EXAMPLE Annex B of Generalized Enterprise-Referencing Architectures Modelling Framework ,

[1] [39]

Reference Model of Open Distributed Processing (RM-ODP) , Unified Architecture Framework (UAF) , and

[34]
NATO Architecture Framework (NAF) .

Note 1 to entry: Architecture description frameworks promote structured organization, consistency of

description, greater potential for reuse, and completeness of architecture views and models.

3.7
architecture description language
ADL

means of expression, with syntax and semantics, consisting of a set of representations, conventions,

and associated rules intended to be used to describe an architecture

EXAMPLE Architecture Analysis and Design Language (AADL), ArchiMate, UML, SysML, UAF Profile.

3.8
architecture view

information item, governed by an architecture viewpoint (3.9), comprising part of an architecture

description (3.4)

Note 1 to entry: A viewpoint is a frame of reference for the concerns determined by the architect as relevant to

the purpose of the architecture description.

EXAMPLE A data view in an AD, as described in Clause 4 of ISO/IEC 25024:2015, concerns data for the entity

of interest. A data view could include contextual schema, conceptual, logical and physical data models, data

dictionary and documents as view components, and entities, relations and attributes as AD elements.

3.9
architecture viewpoint

conventions for the creation, interpretation and use of an architecture view (3.8) to frame one or more

concerns (3.10)

Note 1 to entry: A viewpoint is a frame of reference for the concerns determined by the architect as relevant to

the purpose of the architecture description.
Note 2 to entry: The conventions of an architecture viewpoint are included in
...