plan specification software pipeline PERSON: Jie Zheng, Chris Stoeckert A plan specification that specifies a chain encoded in software of processing elements (processes, threads, coroutines, etc.), arranged so that the output of each element is the input of the next. Usually some amount of buffering is provided between consecutive elements. WEB: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pipeline_%28software%29 NIAID GSCID-BRC software pipeline metadata complete