Open systems architecture is a system design approach which aims to produce
systems that are inherently interoperable and connectable without recourse to retrofit and redesign.
Concept
Systems design
Systems design interfaces, and data for an electronic control system to satisfy specified requirements. System design could be seen as the application of system theory to product development. There is some overlap with the disciplines of system ...
is a process of defining and engineering the architecture, methods, and interfaces necessary to accomplish a goal or fulfill a set of requirements. In open systems architecture, the design includes intentional provisions to make it possible to expand or modify the system at a later stage after initial operation. There is no one specific universal OSA, but it is essential the specific OSA applicable to a system is rigorously defined and documented. For example, in information technology and telecommunication, such design principles lead to
open systems.
Telecommunications
In
telecommunication
Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...
, open systems architecture (OSA) is a standard that describes the layered hierarchical structure,
configuration, or model of a
communications
Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...
or distributed
data processing system. It enables system description, design, development, installation, operation, improvement, and
maintenance
Maintenance may refer to:
Biological science
* Maintenance of an organism
* Maintenance respiration
Non-technical maintenance
* Alimony, also called ''maintenance'' in British English
* Champerty and maintenance, two related legal doct ...
to be performed at the
abstraction layers in the hierarchical structure. Each layer provides a set of accessible functions that can be controlled and used by the functions in the layer above it. Each layer can be implemented without affecting the implementation of other layers. The alteration of system performance by the modification of one or more layers may be accomplished without altering the existing equipment, procedures, and protocols at the remaining layers.
Examples of independent alterations include the conversion from wire to optical fiber at a
physical layer without affecting the
data link layer
The data link layer, or layer 2, is the second layer of the seven-layer OSI model of computer networking. This layer is the protocol layer that transfers data between nodes on a network segment across the physical layer. The data link layer ...
or the
network layer
In the seven-layer OSI model of computer networking, the network layer is layer 3. The network layer is responsible for packet forwarding including routing through intermediate routers.
Functions
The network layer provides the means of tran ...
, except to provide more
traffic capacity, and the altering of the operational protocols at the
network level without altering the physical layer.
See also
*
Architecture of Interoperable Information Systems
*
Architectural pattern
*
Enterprise architecture
*
OSI model
The Open Systems Interconnection model (OSI model) is a conceptual model that 'provides a common basis for the coordination of SOstandards development for the purpose of systems interconnection'. In the OSI reference model, the communications ...
*
Open-system environment reference model
Open-system environment (OSE) reference model (RM) or ''OSE reference model'' (OSE/RM) is a 1990 reference model for enterprise architecture. It provides a framework for describing open system concepts and defining a lexicon of terms, that can ...
References
Sources
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{{FS1037C
Telecommunications standards
Systems architecture