Software Engineering

18.2.2 
 Software engineering integrated product team (detailed 
architecture definition stage)
1. 
Synthesize structural unit alternatives.
 The SWE-IPT should conduct software 
design synthesis to identify and group common functions and allocate them to 
identified structural units. This includes determining the physical unit inherit-
ance and physical unit user interface hierarchies. Structural unit block diagrams 
should be develop to identify how the structural units will need to interface. 
Alternative structural unit configurations should be identified and evaluated to 
narrow the solution space to the preferred physical design solution.
2. 
Develop the software integration hierarchy.
 The software integration hierarchy 
should be developed to depict the software integration strategy. This hierarchy 
depicts how structural elements will be assembled, integrated, and tested to 
form a single integrated structural configuration item.
3. 
Analyze structural configuration alternatives, conflicts, and trade-offs.
 The 
SWE-IPT should analyze structural design alternatives to identify the preferred 
architectural solution. Trade-off studies should be conducted for structural 
design alternatives, as necessary. The risks for structural design alternatives 
must be identified and assessed to ensure the resulting structural configura-
tion can be implemented within program cost and schedule constraints. The 
preferred structural design solution should be selected that achieves a balance 
among performance characteristics, reduced physical architecture complexity, 
architectural stability, and the satisfaction of stakeholder needs and expecta-
tions. The SWE-IPT should evaluate identified conflicts between the functional 
and physical architectures to determine potential courses of corrective action. 
Viable approaches to resolving architectural conflict should be explored and 
evaluated against program objectives and stakeholder needs. The software 
implementation and test challenges and risks associated with each approach 
must be identified. The alternative approaches should be prioritized to facilitate 
architectural decision making.

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