Abstract
This public deliverable describes at a first stage the 4WARD Architecture Framework to support the Network Architect in the design of new network architectures. Firstly, it provides the concepts, terms and basic framework constructs to model networks. Then a design process has been defined. It represents the workflow ranging from a business idea as a starting point to the design of network architecture models and software architecture models. The document also presents some best practices to be followed by the network architect. In this context the composition of functionalities is studied as a way to meet multiple requirements and some interoperability scenarios have been studied to infer best practices to assure the interoperability between different network domains. Finally, a set of use cases have defined to support and validate the Architecture Framework.