What is meant by establishing a level of openness?
The level of openness is that level at which components conform to the open interface profile of a system or unit and can therefore be replaced with other components meeting the open interface profile. From an open systems perspective, interfaces to components at this level would be completely specified. When replacement components are necessary, the replacement components would be required to meet the open system interface specified. The specific interfaces to components within a system are called profiles of open standards, reflecting the interface features which a component is required to support. For example, if a sensor is integrated to the remainder of a system via a network, and the sensor were to go bad, it would be replaced with one which had a compatible interface to the open network profile, as well as compatible performance, space, weight, power consumption, and other relevant form, fit, and function factors. In the case of a workstation, there may be many interfaces within
