The operational node connectivity, or OV-2, diagram concentrates on the operational nodes, the needlines between them, and the characteristics of the information exchanged.
The information exchanges describe what information will be needed to support the activities between the operational nodes. Information exchange characteristics can be shown on the diagram, or in a report format, also known as the OV-3 information exchange matrix. The purpose of the operational node connectivity diagram is to make decisions about which systems are needed to satisfy the business needs of an organization or functional area.
Operational nodes are used along with needlines to transfer information.
Operational Nodes
Describe what type of mission or role will be performed.
▪Type: Abstract or Physical
▪Operational Activities: Describes what actions are to be preformed in the node (for example, sending orders).
▪Owning Organizations: Also known as Organizational Units which describe who are involved with a particular mission.
Needlines
Describe what type of information is needed to support the activities between Nodes.
▪Information Exchange: Add a definition describing what kind of information will be transferred.
Note An Information Exchange may also be seen on the definition of an ICOM Arrow on an OV-5 Activity Model Diagram.
Tabs associated with the Information Exchange are:
▪Nature of Transaction
▪Referenced Data — refers to entities on the OV-7 Logical Data Model
▪Purpose/Trigger Event — may be associated to this definition dialogue if relevant.
▪Mission/Scenario
▪Language
▪Content
▪Size/Units
▪Media
▪Collaborative or One Way
▪LISI Level Required
Performance Requirements
Frequency, Timeliness, Throughput, Other
Information Assurance Attributes
Classifications/Declassifications Restrictions, Criticality/Priority, Integrity Checks Required, Assured Authorization TO Send/Receive
Threats
Physical, Electronic and Political/Economic
Operational Environment
Weather, Terrain, and Policy/Doctrine Constraints
Net centric architectures
Starting with DoDAF 1.5, users are encouraged to build net centric architectures, and establish capabilities and services provided and used by the architecture.
In an operational node definition, you can specify if the node is a Service Provider, Service Consumer, or Unanticipated User of Services. These three operational node definitions are prepopulated into every encyclopedia. Users might create new operational node instances; however the DoDAF specification specifically calls out to categorize nodes by one or more of these three roles.