The Pipes-and-Filters architecture pattern describes the structure of systems that process data streams.

Pipes-and-Filters

by Rainer Grimm

From the article:

The Pipes-and-Filters pattern is similar to the Layers Pattern. The idea of the Layers Pattern is to structure the system in layers so that higher layers are based on the services of lower layers. The Pipes-and-Filters naturally extend the Layers Pattern, using the layers as filters and the data flow as pipes.