Offering a practical way to generate effective and efficient project-specific system architecture engineering methods, this volume addresses the entire range of systems architecture including hardware, software, subsystems, and systems of systems.

Donald G. Firesmith, Peter Capell, Dietrich Falkenthal, Charles B. Hammons, DeWitt T. Latimer IV, Tom Merendino

The architects of today's large and complex systems all too often struggle with the lack of a consistent set of principles and practices that adequately address the entire breadth of systems architecture. The Method Framework for Engineering System Architectures (MFESA) enables system architects and process engineers to create methods for effective

Introduction. System Architecture Engineering Challenges. System Architecture Engineering Principles. MFESA: An Overview. MFESA: The Ontology of Concepts and Terminology. Task 1: Plan and Resource the Architecture Engineering Effort. Task 2: Identify the Architectural Drivers. Task 3: Create the First Versions of the Most Important Architectural Models. Task 4: Identify Opportunities for the Reuse of Architectural Elements. Task 5: Create the Candidate Architectural Visions. Task 6: Analyze Reusable Components and Their Sources. Task 7: Select or Create the Most Suitable Architectural Vision. Task 8: Complete the Architecture and its Representations. Task 9: Evaluate and Accept the Architecture. Task 10: Maintain the Architecture and its Representations. MFESA Method Components: Architectural Workers. MFESA: The Metamethod for Creating Endeavor-Specific Methods. Architecture and Quality. Conclusions. Appendices. Annotated References/Bibliography. Index.