A refinement of the ECBS architecture constituent

The importance of a clean system architecture in the context of computer based systems increases significantly with the ever higher level of complexity these systems exhibit. As a consequence, the identification of useful architectural concepts and their description in architecture models has become an important concern for software engineering practitioners and researchers. We look at system architectures as elements of the ECBS (Engineering of Computer Based Systems) discipline. We exemplify the concepts of system architecture in this context and make a first step towards a generic, multipurpose software architecture model. This model is two folded: on one side it emphasizes architectural elements-constructive primitives from which a general system design model can be built; on the other side it underlines the importance of design rationale and knowledge, capturing them in a selection of rules and so called aspects. The application of architecture models to systems integration and specification of safety critical systems is discussed in the form of examples.