Architectural Analysis

A primary goal of IntelliGrid Architecture project is designing a common architecture for utilities. A key step in this process is discovery of what is different and what is the same in a utility. The diversity of utility software is captured in a set of technologies and environments. Technologies correspond to which physical means information is exchange by and are chosen on the basis of the Environment that corresponds to where data is exchanged. That is, which technologies are used comprises an RM-ODP Technology View while the Environments deployed in comprise an RM ODP Deployment View of the utility.

The commonality of a utility architecture is captured in a set of common modeling elements. The IntelliGrid Architecture Common modeling elements include:

· Common Services – Common functions that correspond to the RM-ODP activities that that interact with their environments. Common Services comprise an RM ODP Enterprise View of the utility. Services are the atomic building blocks that are frequently required in the utility enterprise. Note that IntelliGrid Architecture Common Services are defined for security, network management, data management and other non-utility application specific capabilities. The rational for abstracting away from application specific functionality to a reusable set of Common Services is discussed in high-level concepts text in the previous section.

· Common Information Models – Common data this is exchanged between services. Common Information Models correspond to what data is exchanged. Common Information Models comprise an RM ODP Information View of the utility.

· Generic Interfaces – Generic Interfaces are used as the mechanism for exchanging Common Information Model data between services. Generic Interfaces correspond to how data is exchanged. That is, Generic Interfaces comprise an RM ODP Computation View of the utility.

These common modeling elements are discovered and derived through intensive architectural analyses. This section describes the architectural analyses undertaken by IntelliGrid Architecture team. It also provides the common modeling element conclusions. Figure 18illustrates the relationship between services, interfaces, and component packages. This section provides a description of these elements. Further elaboration on the common modeling elements can be found in the appendix.

Although this section focuses on the commonalities, it is the objective of the following section to unfold the diversity of the utility operations and provide recommendations to the technology utilization, integration and harmonization. Those technologies correspond to which physical means information is exchanged by. That is, which technologies are used comprises an RM-ODP Technology View.