SEI Open Systems Glossary
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
A
acquisition
The process for obtaining systems, equipment, or modifications to existing
inventory items.
architecture
A specification that identifies components and their associated functionality, describes connectivity of components, and describes the mapping of functionality onto components. Architectures can be of different types, e.g., hardware, software, or system, and can be domain-specific, e.g., networking.
C
commercial product
A product, such as an item, material, component, subsystem, or system, sold or
traded to the general public in the course of normal business operations at
prices based on established catalog or market prices. [FARs, 11.001]
commercial-like product
A commercial product (a) modified to meet some government-peculiar physical
requirement, or (b) otherwise identified differently from its normal
commercial counterparts.
conformance
Action or behavior in correspondence with current customs, rules, or styles.
concurrent engineering
a systematic approach to integrated and concurrent development of a product
and its related processes. Concurrent engineering emphasizes response to
customer expectations and embodies team values of cooperation, trust, and
sharing-decision making proceeds with large intervals of parallel work by all
life-cycle perspectives, synchronized by comparatively brief exchanges to
produce consensus.
E
efficiency
The relationship between the level of performance of the product and the
amount of resources used, under stated conditions.
F
functionality
A set of functions and their specified properties that satisfy stated or
implied needs.
I
interface
A shared boundary across which information is passed. [IEEE 91] An abstraction
of the behavior of an object obtained by hiding observable actions of that
object outside a specified subset. [open distributed processing (ODP)].
interoperability
The capability of two or more components or component implementations to
interact.
M
maintainability
The effort needed to make specified modifications to a component
implementation.
militarized
Items that are designed and manufactured to military specifications.
N
non-developmental item
(a) any product that is available in the commercial marketplace; (b) any
previously developed product in use by a U.S. agency (federal, state, or
local) or a foreign government that has a mutual defense agreement with the
U.S.; (c) any product described in (a) or (b) that requires only modifications
to meet requirements; (d) any product that is being produced, but not yet in
the commercial marketplace, that satisfies the above criteria.
O
open
The specification of a component is open if (1) its interface specification is
fully defined and available to the public, and (2) this specification is
maintained by a group consensus process.
open system
An open system is a collection of interacting software, hardware, and human
components
- designed to satisfy stated needs
- with interface specifications of its components that are
- fully defined
- available to the public
- maintained according to group consensus
- in which the implementations of the components conform to the interface specifications
open system architecture
A system architecture in which the components, both hardware and software, are
specified in an open manner. More specifically: a representation in which
there is (a) a mapping of functionality onto hardware and software components,
(b) a mapping of the software architecture onto the hardware architecture, (c)
the human interaction with these components, and (d) an interface
specification of the components that is (i) fully defined and available to the
public, (ii) maintained according to a group consensus process, and (iii)
maintained by a consensus group that is appropriate to the user needs.
open system environment (OSE)
A comprehensive set of interfaces, services, and supporting formats, plus user
aspects for interoperability or for portability of applications, data, or
people, as specified by information technology standards and profiles.
P
paradigm
An example or pattern, especially an outstandingly clear or typical example or
archetype.
portability
The ability of an implementation to be transferred from one environment to
another.
process improvement
An activity that seeks to identify and rectify "common causes" of poor quality
in software systems by making basic changes in the underlying software
management process.
procurement
A set of activities performed as part of an acquisition effort.
profile
A set of one or more standards and, where applicable, the identification of
chosen classes, subsets, options, and parameters necessary for accomplishing a
particular function.
protocol
A set of syntactic and semantic rules for exchanging information that includes (a) syntax of the information; (b) semantics of the information; and (c) rules for the exchange of information.
R
reengineering
An engineering process to transform an existing system into a new form through
a combination of reverse engineering, restructuring, and forward engineering.
reference model
An abstract description of a set of entities where (a) the entities are
described in terms of services, and (b) connectivity among the entities is
loosely defined.
reliability
The capability of an implementation to maintain its level of performance under
stated conditions for a stated period of time.
reuse
An engineering activity that focuses on the recognition of commonalities of
systems within and across domains; it consists of the creation of models with
different abstractions (ranging from domain models to code) and their use during the engineering of an application.
reverse engineering
The process of analyzing an existing system; identifying system components,
abstractions, and interrelationships; and creating representations of them.
Redocumentation and design recovery are two forms of reverse engineering.
ruggedized
COTS equipment that has been modified for military use. The modifications may
be in the form of added parts, such as shields, power conditioners, and so
forth, or in the form of direct modification of COTS equipment. Ruggedized may
be referred to as ruggedized COTS. [MIL-STD-2036A]
S
specification
A document that prescribes, in a complete, precise, verifiable manner, the
requirements, design, behavior, or characteristics of a system or system
component. [IEEE 93b]
standard
(a) A document, established by consensus and approved by an accredited
standards development organization, that provides for common and repeated use,
rules, guidelines, or characteristics for activities or their results, aimed
at the achievement of the optimum degree of order and consistency in a given
context. [IEEE 91] (b) Something set up and established by authority, custom,
or general consent as a rule for the measure of quantity, weight, extent,
value, or quality as a model or example.
subsystem
A collection of interacting hardware, software, and human components.
supportability
Those actions related to the reliability, maintainability, and affordability
of component implementations, and the integrated logistics support and
configuration management required.
system
A collection of interacting subsystems designed to satisfy a set of
requirements.
system architecture
A representation of a system in which there is a mapping of functionality onto
hardware and software components, a mapping of the software architecture onto
the hardware architecture, and human interaction with these components.
U
usability
The effort needed for use, and for individual assessment of such use, by a
stated or implied set of users.