Interface, a dispersed architecture

Past and current specification techniques use timing diagrams and written text to describe the phenomenology of an interface. This paper treats an interface as the architecture of a number of processes, which are dispersed over the related system parts and the message path. This approach yields a precise definition of an interface. With this definition as starting point, the inherent structure of an interface is developed. A horizontal and vertical partitioning strategy, based on one functional entity per partition and described by a state description, is used to specify the structure. This method allows unambiguous specification, interpretation, and implementation, and allows a much easier judgement of the quality of an interface. The method has been applied to a number of widely used interfaces.