Consistency Checking for Component Reuse in Open Systems

Large scale Open Systems are built from reusable components in such a way that enhanced system functionality can be deployed, quickly and effectively, simply by plugging in a few new or revised components. At the architectural level, when new variations of a system are being planned by (re)configuring reusable components, the architecture description can itself become very large and complex. Consequently, the opportunities for inconsistency abound. This paper describes a method of architecture description that allows a significant amount of consistency checking to be done throughout the process of developing a system architecture description. An architectural design tool is described that supports consistency checking. This tool is designed to support component reuse, incremental development and collaborative working, essential for developing the architecture description of large systems.