What is an Architecture?
? A description of the behavior of a system that is independent of its implementation.
??Isomorphic to its "interface specification" (Siewiorek, Bell, Newell, 1971)
For example:
? Instruction set definition of a computer
? Z-domain description of a filter
? Handshaking protocol for a bus
? May guide implementation (contain 'hints' or 'pragmas')
e.g. a particular specification may lead naturally to a serial or parallel implementation.