ISO/IEC 10746-2:2009

Overview

ISO/IEC 10746-2:2009 - “Information technology - Open distributed processing - Reference model: Foundations” (RM-ODP Foundations) defines the core concepts and analytical framework for describing any distributed processing system. Part 2 of the RM-ODP family establishes the vocabulary, modelling primitives and conformance principles used to specify large-scale, open distributed systems. It underpins Parts 1, 3 and 4 of the RM-ODP series and supports distribution, interworking, portability and platform/technology independence.

Key topics and requirements

• Core concepts and categories: Basic interpretation, linguistic, modelling, specification, structuring and conformance concepts (clauses 6–15).
• Five prescribed viewpoints: RM-ODP defines separate but interrelated viewpoints (used across the standard family) to focus on different concerns of a system.
• Four fundamental elements of the framework:
  • An object-modelling approach to system specification.
  • Specification as separate but related viewpoint specifications.
  • Definition of a system infrastructure providing distribution transparencies.
  • A framework for assessing system conformance to ODP standards.
• Detailed concept areas: naming, behaviour, contractual behaviour, activity structure, causality, transparency properties, policy concepts, temporal properties, dependability and management concepts.
• Conformance principles: Definition of reference points, classes of reference points, testing processes, and results for verifying compliance with ODP standards (clause 15).
• Support for formal description techniques: Concepts are defined to enable formalization (used in ISO/IEC 10746-4) and to set requirements for ODP specification techniques.

Applications and who uses the standard

ISO/IEC 10746-2:2009 is practical for:

• Enterprise architects and system architects designing large-scale, distributed, platform-independent systems.
• Standards authors and specification writers who need a coordinated framework (viewpoints and modelling primitives) to produce interoperable standards.
• Software engineers and integrators creating ODP-compliant implementations focused on portability and interworking.
• Testers and QA engineers responsible for conformance testing against RM-ODP reference points.
• Research and education in distributed systems architecture and formal modelling.

Practical uses include creating architecture blueprints, specifying component interfaces across viewpoints, defining distribution transparencies for middleware, and establishing conformance/testing criteria for interoperable deployments.

Related standards

• ISO/IEC 10746-1: Overview (RM-ODP overview and motivation)
• ISO/IEC 10746-3: Architecture (characteristics and constraints for open distributed processing)
• ISO/IEC 10746-4: Architectural semantics (formalization of RM-ODP modelling concepts) (Also published in ITU-T as Recommendations X.901–X.904.)

Keywords: ISO/IEC 10746-2:2009, RM-ODP, open distributed processing, reference model, distributed systems, viewpoints, conformance, architecture, formal description techniques.