초록 ▼

A knowledge system has a hierarchical knowledge base comprising a functional decomposition of a set of elements into subsets over a plurality of hierarchical levels, a plurality of predefined functions or conditions of the elements within the subsets of a plurality of the hierarchical levels, and a

A knowledge system has a hierarchical knowledge base comprising a functional decomposition of a set of elements into subsets over a plurality of hierarchical levels, a plurality of predefined functions or conditions of the elements within the subsets of a plurality of the hierarchical levels, and a predefined set of operations to perform on a user-defined set of elements responsive to the functional knowledge base. Preferably, the knowledge base is defined declaratively by assigning parent sets to offspring subsets to define the hierarchy, by indicating the conditions of the subsets which satisfy the predefined functions and by writing task blocks in an imperative language defining the sequence of operations to perform on the user-defined set of elements. Preferably the operations include matching, configuring and expanding the user-defined set of elements into the defined subsets of individual elements and evaluating the predefined functions, and the operations are executed recursively. In a specific embodiment the elements are available components for a system or item of manufacture, and the subsets of elements are sub-assemblies or functionally related components. The predefined functions define condition-action constraints to insure that the sub-assemblies have compatible components. Such a knowledge system has general applicability, is easy to maintain and incrementally modify, has transparent representation of the functional decomposition and the configuration operations, and provides explanation for an assessment of the configuration.

대표청구항 ▼

A knowledge system for designing a product including assemblies of predetermined parts, said knowledge system comprising a computer having a portion of memory storing a knowledge base and a portion of memory subdivided into respective bins for receiving selected names of said parts for comprising th

A knowledge system for designing a product including assemblies of predetermined parts, said knowledge system comprising a computer having a portion of memory storing a knowledge base and a portion of memory subdivided into respective bins for receiving selected names of said parts for comprising the respective assemblies, said knowledge base including a control procedure for obtaining a set of assembly constraints including conditions applicable to respective assemblies for indicating whether parts in the respective bins have desired properties and respective actions indicating predetermined changes to the sets of parts in the respective bins for obtaining said desired properties in response to whether the respective conditions are satisfied, and applying said conditions of said assembly constraints to the respective assemblies and conditionally executing the respective changes in response to whether the conditions are satisfied, wherein said knowledge base further includes a hierarchy defining at least some of said assemblies as offspring sub-assemblies of respective parent assemblies, and wherein said assembly constraints associated with said parent assemblies have conditions referencing the conditions of parts in the respective offspring bins, and said computer including means for executing said control procedure to thereby obtain said set of assembly constraints, apply said assembly constraints, and conditionally execute said respective changes to thereby obtain a design for said product, said design being indicated by the list of names of the parts in the bins after said conditions are applied and said changes are conditionally executed.