Software Engineering Institute

The Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute (SEI) was involved in an Architecture-Centric Virtual Integration Practice (ACVIP) shadow project for the Aviation and Missile Research, Development, and Engineering Center Science & Technology Joint Multi-role program in the Joint Common Architecture (JCA) Technology Demonstration. The JCA Demo used the Modular Integrated Survivability (MIS) system, which provided a situational awareness service that will be integrated with two instances of a Data Correlation and Fusion Manager (DCFM) software component, which has been contracted to two suppliers. The purpose of the ACVIP shadow project was to demonstrate the value of using ACVIP technology, in particular the architecture models expressed in the SAE Architecture Analysis & Design Language (AADL) standard, for discovering potential system integration problems early in the development process. To do this, the SEI first captured information from existing requirements documents in AADL and the draft Requirement Definition & Analysis Language Annex. Then, by using an architecture-led approach to capturing requirements and architecture specification, the SEI team quickly identified a number of issues that, if not addressed, could result in system integration problems between MIS and DCFM. The SEI’s findings allowed contractor teams to address these issues early in system development.