Opportunistic software architecture for support of design coordination

摘要

The paper considers the nature of design and how the coordination of diverse resources is required to enable the many different factors that affect a product throughout its life to be considered. A discussion of related work illustrates some of the methods for organizing knowledge and controlling design activity. A software architecture that is based on a blackboard model with knowledge sources related in a hierarchy is presented as a means of supporting design coordination. Its use is demonstrated with an example application for the electromagnetic design of a turbine generator.