Variability viewpoint to describe reference architectures

Abstract

Reference architectures have emerged as a special type of software architecture that achieves well-recognized understanding of specific domains. Their purpose is therefore to be a guidance for the development, standardization, and evolution of systems of such domains or neighbor domains. Adequate representation of such architectures is essential to promote their effective use and dissemination, using, for instance, different architectural viewpoints. A comprehensive description of reference architectures should not only record common features and functionalities, but also variations that could be present in the instances of these architectures. In this scenario, the main contribution of our work is to propose an architecture viewpoint to represent variability in reference architectures. We also describe the steps for creating such viewpoint and present an example of a technique that could be used to represent it. A case study is also presented, demonstrating the feasibility of our approach. Based on initial results, we have observed that the variability viewpoint could contribute to a more adequate, complete description of reference architectures and, as a consequence, it could promote a more effective dissemination and use of such architectures.