ABSTRACT
Background This chapter presents a case study in which a system architecture is developed that can be used for the technical assessment of system alternatives. At the end of the case study, the architecture will be used to make a defendable judgment of the feasibility of each system alternative. The aim of this assessment is to identify anything about the alternative and its role in the architecture that will prevent the system from doing what it was intended to do. The relationship between architecture-based assessment, and system, and architecture, which have been previously defined in this book, is defined as follows:
A system is a combination of interacting elements integrated to realize properties, behaviors, and capabilities that achieve one or more stated purposes. The architecture of a system is a specification of the parts and connectors of the system and the rules for the interactions of the parts using the connectors. Architecturebased assessment is the
concordant assessment of the capabilities and interoperability of a family of systems.
