interworking
Systems or components, possibly from different
origins, working together to perform some task. Interworking
depends crucially on {standards} to define the {interfaces}
between the components. The term implies that there is some
difference between the components which, in the absence of
common standards, would make it unlikely that they could be
used together. For example, {software} from different
companies, running on different {hardware} and {operating
systems} can interwork via standard network {protocols}.
(1998-11-22)