Types of modular interface design

After a lesson on modular architecture from a System Architecture course, I find myself referencing back to the topic of modular interface design to gather inspiration.

As described in Product Design and Development by Karl Ulrich and Steven Eppinger, there are 3 types of modular interface design.

To cater for future reference, I documented some information about 3 types on modular interface design in this post.

Slot Modular Architecture

The Slot Modular Architecture consists of elements with differing interfaces.

Each element shares a unique interface with a base element. As such, the elements cannot be swapped around.

Slot Modular Architecture

Examples of Slot Modular Architecture includes:

Bus Modular Architecture

The Bus Modular Architecture uses a common bus, or similar concept. Each element connects to the bus or base element through the same type of interface.

Bus Modular Architecture

Examples of Bus Modular Architecture includes:

Sectional Modular Architecture

In a Sectional Modular Architecture, there is no common bus or base element which interfaces with other elements. Each element uses a common set of interface to connect with each other.

Sectional Modular Architecture

Examples of Sectional Modular Architecture includes:

About Clivant

Clivant a.k.a Chai Heng enjoys composing software and building systems to serve people. He owns techcoil.com and hopes that whatever he had written and built so far had benefited people. All views expressed belongs to him and are not representative of the company that he works/worked for.