DoDAF Architecting

DIV-1 Conceptual Data Model

The DIV-1 Conceptual Data Model addresses the information concepts at a high-level on an operational architecture.  The DIV-1 is used to document the business information requirements and structural business process rules of the architecture. It describes the information that is associated with the information of the architecture. Included are information items, their attributes or characteristics, and their inter-relationships.

Guide: DoDAF Architecture Framework Version 2.02 – Page 133

The intended usage of the DIV-1 includes:

  • Information requirements
  • Information hierarchy

The DIV-1 describes the structure of an Architectural Description domain’s information types and the structural business process rules (defined in the Operational Viewpoints (OV) Models).

The Architectural elements for DIV-1 include descriptions of information entity and relationship types. Attributes can be associated with entities and with relationships, depending on the purposes of the Architectural Description.

The intention is that DIV-1 describes information or data of importance to the business (e.g., information products that might be referred to in doctrine, SOPs, etc.) whereas the DIV-3 “Physical Data Model” describes data relevant at the system-level.

The purpose of a given Architectural Description helps to determine the level of detail needed in this model. This level of detail is driven in particular by the criticality of the interoperability requirements.

Often, different organizations may use the same Entity name to mean very different kinds of information having different internal structure. This situation could pose significant interoperability risks, as the information models may appear to be compatible but having different and incompatible interpretations of what Target Track means.

A DIV-1 may be necessary for interoperability when shared information syntax and semantics form the basis for greater degrees of information systems interoperability, or when an information repository is the basis for integration and interoperability among business activities and between capabilities.

The DIV-1 defines the Architectural Description’s information classes and the relationships among them. For example, if the architecture effort is describing missile defense, some possible information classes may be trajectory and target with a relationship that associates a target with a certain trajectory. The DIV-1 defines each kind of information classes associated with the Architectural Description scope, mission, or business as its own Entity, with its associated attributes and relationships. These Entity definitions correlate to OV-2 “Operational Resource Flow Description” information elements and OV-5b “Operational Activity”.

   DoDAF Viewpoint Matrix
AV 1 2                      
CV 1 2 3 4 5 6 7            
DIV 1 2 3                    
OV 1 2 3 4 5a 5b 6a 6b 6c        
PV 1 2 3                    
SvcV 1 2 3a 3b 4 5 6 7 8 9 10a 10b 10c
StdV 1 2                      
SV 1 2 3 4 5a 5b 6 7 8 9 10a 10b 10c

AcqTips:  

  • The DoDAF descriptions in this website are very generic and are mostly taken from the DoDAF Architecture Framework website. Make sure you visit the actual website for the most update information and a more thorough explanation of each viewpoint.
  • DoDAF Version 1.0, although outdated, has some good examples on how to construct AV’s, OV’s, and SV’s.

AcqLinks and References:

Updated: 9/27/2017

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