Appendix E. Guidelines using design rules in NATO NEC federated environment
Summary
498. This guideline document describes a concept and model for how knowledge of proven solutions can be documented and packaged in order to form a shared basis for supporting the development and the implementation of NNEC based systems for NATO.
E.1. Introduction
499. This document introduces the concept of design rules by describing what design rules are and how they shall be applied in a NATO Network Enabled Capabilities context.
500. Design rules are about reusing knowledge of proven solutions for reoccurring problems. Reuse of solutions that give NNEC-specific characteristics is particularly important. These solutions should solve frequent and/or difficult problems, promote important system characteristics and/or improve the quality of the resulting product in a cost effective way.
501. A design rule consists mainly of the following three parts:
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Context; describes under what circumstances the design rule is valid
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Problem/Opportunity; is a description of the problem it solves or the opportunity it exploits.
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Solution; is a description how the problem/opportunity shall/should be resolved in the given context
502. Design rules can give solutions on all levels, but it is anticipated that the produced design rules mainly takes care of the higher system levels (relating to the breakdown patterns in a system design) in order to avoid a cumbersome number of rules. If possible design rules shall be based on standards and/or NISP/NAF and will preferably be associated with as concept (generic concept of design).
503. The introduction of design rules in the NISP will also need to be integrated with other design related artefacts and frameworks within NATO such as the NATO Architectural Framework (NAF).