Patent ID: 8429608

Claim:
An apparatus for providing variability rules for component model and architecture design, said apparatus comprising: a processor configured to set variability of component model elements to produce variability-set component model elements; a category-determination unit which determines, via the processor, a category of implicit variability rules with respect to the variability-set component model elements and the component model elements associated with the variability-set component model elements; an implicit-variability-rule-application unit which apply the implicit variability rules, which are given to the category, to the component model elements associated with the variability-set component model elements; and a variability-operation unit which manages a list of variability elements in the component model and setting condition information for each variability, wherein at least one from among the variability-set component model elements is designated as at least one from among optional, alternative, selective, and mandatory, and wherein the variability of the mandatory at least one of the variability-set component model elements is not automatically changed even when the implicit variability rules are applied.