Application Platform: A set of resources, including hardware and software, that support the services on which application software will run. The application platform provides services at its interfaces that, as much as possible, make the specific characteristics of the platform transparent to the application software.

Application Program Interface (API): The interface between the application software and the application platform, across which all services are provided.

Architecture: The structure of components, their relationships, and the principles and guidelines governing their design and evolution over time.

Architecture Description: A representation, as of a current or future point in time, of a defined "domain" in terms of its component parts, what those parts do, how the parts relate to each other, and the rules and constraints under which the parts function.

Architecture Products: Graphical, textual, and tabular items that are developed in the course of building a given architecture description and that describe characteristics pertinent to its purpose. When completed, this set of products constitutes the architecture description.

Common Facilities: Facilities [a collection of services] useful in many application domains and which are made available through OMA- [Object Management Architecture-] compliant class interfaces.

Common Support Application (CSA): A type of Application Software Component that is of use across two or more mission domains (such as logistical command & control, weapon system mission planning/ targeteering, or medical logistics management), and which therefore requires especially careful cross-domain interoperability engineering.

Conceptual Data Model: The relationship and definitions of all data that is used by and influences the other three architecture components - operational, systems, and technical.

Domain: 1) A concept important to interoperability, it is a distinct scope, within which common characteristics are exhibited, common rules observed, and over which a distribution transparency is preserved. 2) A distinct functional area that can be supported by a family of systems with similar requirements and capabilities. An area of common operational and functional requirements.

Essential Products (C4ISR AF): These products constitute the minimal set of products required to develop architectures that can be commonly understood and integrated within and across DoD organizational boundaries and between DoD and multi-national elements. These products must be developed for all architectures.

Expected Level of Interoperability: The projected set of available capabilities two systems exhibit in common.

External Exchanges: Data/information exchanges between systems at the node and systems at other nodes.

Evolution (system): Spreading in scope while increasing functionality and flexibility.

Functional Area: A major area of related activity (e.g., Ballistic Missile Defense, Logistics, or C2 support.)

Functional Requirement: A requirement that specifies a function that a system or system component must be able to perform.

Imagery & Geospatial Community (IGC): The composition of cooperating commands, services, agencies, and departments within the United States government, foreign governments, and private sector organizations involved in the acquisition, production and exploitation, and dissemination of imagery, imagery intelligence, and geospatial information. The IGC fosters extensive partnerships with others, including commercial and academic institutions, to collaboratively work together to share information.

Information Exchange Requirement (IER): A requirement for the context of an information flow. Associated with an IER are such performance attributes as information size, throughput, timelines, quality, and quantity values.

Internal Exchanges: Relevant data/information exchanges between systems within the node.

Mechanism: A physical resource that is involved with the performance of an activity, e.g., personnel, tools, automated systems.

Migration (system): Incrementally creating a more streamlined, efficient, smaller and cheaper suite.

Mission: An objective together with the purpose of the intended action. Note: Multiple tasks accomplish a mission.

Mission Area: The general class to which an operational mission belongs. Note: Within a class, the missions have common objectives.

Mission Specific Application (MSA): A type of Application Software Component that is principally of use in one mission domain. USIGS MSAs are applications that process geospatial and imagery information; each consists of an arrangement of multiple components (OGE Services, Common Facilities and platform services) to perform the specific mission.

Network: 1) The joining of two or more nodes for a specific purpose. 2) A system of connected computers.

Node: A representation of an element of architecture that produces, consumes or processes data.

Open Geospatial Exchange (OGE) Services Application: An Open Geospatial Exchange (OGE) Services Common Support Application, which delivers imagery or geospatial services that are of interest across one or more mission domains (such as logistical command & control, weapon system mission planning/ targeteering, or medical logistics management), and which therefore requires especially careful cross-domain interoperability engineering by NIMA, the agency that is by statute tasked to develop such services.

Operational Architecture: The operational architecture view is a description of the tasks and activities, operational elements, and information flows required to accomplish or support a military operation. It contains descriptions (often graphical) of the operational elements, assigned tasks and activities, and information flows required to support the warfighter. It defines the type of information, the frequency of exchange, which tasks and activities are supported by the information exchanges, and the nature of information exchanges in detail sufficient to ascertain specific requirements.

Operational Requirement: An established need, justifying allocation of resources to achieve a capability to accomplish approved objectives, missions or tasks.

Profile: A set of one or more base standards, and, where applicable, the identification of chosen classes, subsets, options, and parameters of those base standards, necessary for accomplishing a particular function.

Requirement: A need or demand.

Rule: Statement that defines or constrains some aspect of the enterprise.

Software: The programs, procedures, rules, and any associated documentation pertaining to the operation of an information processing system.

Standard: A document, established by consensus and approved by an accredited standards development organization, that provides, for common and repeated use, rules, guidelines, or characteristics for activities or their results, aimed at the achievement of the optimum degree of order and consistency in a given context.

Standards Profile: A set of one or more base standards and, where applicable, the identification of chosen classes, subsets, options, and parameters of those base standards necessary for accomplishing a particular function.

Supporting Products (C4ISR AF): These products provide data that will be needed depending on the purpose and objectives of a specific architecture effort. Appropriate products from the supporting product set will be developed depending on the purpose and objectives of the architecture.

System: A collection of components organized to accomplish a specific function or set of functions.

Systems Architecture: The systems architecture view is a description, including graphics, of systems and interconnections providing for, or supporting, warfighting functions. For a domain, the systems architecture view shows how multiple systems link and interoperate, and may describe the internal construction and operations of particular systems within the architecture. For the individual system, the systems architecture view includes the physical connection, location, and identification of the key nodes (including materiel item nodes), circuits, networks, warfighting platforms, etc., and specifies system and component performance parameters (e.g., mean time between failure, maintainability, availability). The systems architecture view associates physical resources and their performance attributes to the operational view and its requirements per standards defined in the technical architecture.

Task: A discrete unit of work, not specific to a single organization, weapon system, or individual, that enables missions or functions to be accomplished. Note: Multiple processes accomplish a task; a single process may support multiple tasks.

Technical Architecture: The technical architecture view is the minimal set of rules governing the arrangement, interaction, and interdependence of system parts or elements, whose purpose is to ensure that a conformant system satisfies a specified set of requirements. The technical architecture view provides the technical systems-implementation guidelines upon which engineering specifications are based, common building blocks are established, and product lines are developed. The technical architecture view includes a collection of the technical standards, conventions, rules and criteria organized into profile(s) that govern system services, interfaces, and relationships for particular systems architecture views and that relate to particular operational views.

United States Imagery and Geospatial Information System (USIGS): The extensive network of systems used by the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Intelligence Community that share and exploit imagery, imagery intelligence, and geospatial information. These systems provide capabilities involved with the integrated management, collection, production, exploitation, dissemination and archive, and infrastructure of this information. Organizations which have some level of interface with USIGS, but are not part of DoD and the Intelligence Community, are considered participants in USIGS if they adhere to the technical and system standards.

Views, architecture: Perspectives that logically combine to describe an architecture.