Combined architectural framework for the selection of architectures using ATAM, FAHP and CBAM

Abstract

Software architecture is the framework for all the technical decisions and as such has a tremendous impact on product cost and quality. It is always cost-effective to evaluate software quality as early as possible in the system development life cycle. Software architecture should be designed such that it reflects business goals and quality attributes (QAs) of the system for which the architecture is being designed, and architecture evaluation methods enable us to evaluate how well they are reflected in the designed architecture. The widely used architecture evaluation methods are the architectural trade-off analysis method (ATAM) and the cost benefit analysis method (CBAM). ATAM assists architects in identifying trade-offs among QAs and identifying risks when they design architecture. CBAM helps architects select architectures that are optimal for a given requirement during its evolution by calculating economical trade-offs based on the benefits and costs. Owing to the uncertainty in the judgement for quality attributes in the conventional AHP used in ATAM, a fuzzy-based quantitative evaluation framework for accessing quality attributes is developed to facilitate the selection of the underlying architectures. This software architecture evaluation framework addresses the competing objectives of cost minimisation and quality maximisation between different architectural options.