SIP-001 — Platform-Independent Reference Architecture

Go to Annex C: Requirements

The proposed Reference Architecture SHALL be platform independent.

Platform independence allows the Reference Architecture to define architectural concepts, responsibilities, relationships, and interactions without requiring a particular operating system, runtime environment, middleware product, programming language, data-storage technology, deployment environment, or vendor implementation.

This separation permits the same Reference Architecture to support multiple platform-specific realizations. It also promotes portability, interoperability, reuse, technology evolution, and competition among conforming implementations.

The Submission satisfies this requirement when:

1. The Reference Architecture is specified without requiring a particular implementation platform or product
2. Its architectural elements, roles, relationships, and interactions are expressed independently of platform-specific technologies
3. Platform-specific examples or mappings are clearly distinguished from the platform-independent architecture
4. The architecture permits realization on more than one implementation platform
5. Conformance to the Reference Architecture can be evaluated without requiring a particular vendor technology

SIP-001 establishes platform independence as a property of the proposed Reference Architecture.

SIP-002 — Formal Platform Independent Model separately requires the Submission to provide a formal Platform Independent Model of that architecture.

Platform independence does not prohibit platform-specific implementations, mappings, examples, or profiles. Such material must remain distinguishable from the platform-independent architectural definition.