The 'what' and 'how' of learning in design, invited paper

Previous experiences hold a wealth of knowledge which we often take for granted and use unknowingly through our every day working lives. In design, those experiences can play a crucial role in the success or failure of a design project, having a great deal of influence on the quality, cost and development time of a product. But how can we empower computer based design systems to acquire this knowledge? How would we use such systems to support design? This paper outlines some of the work which has been carried out in applying and developing Machine Learning techniques to support the design activity; particularly in utilising previous designs and learning the design process

A design model for Open Distributed Processing systems

This paper proposes design concepts that allow the conception, understanding and development of complex technical structures for open distributed systems. The proposed concepts are related to, and partially motivated by, the present work on Open Distributed Processing (ODP). As opposed to the current ODP approach, the concepts are aimed at supporting a design trajectory with several, related abstraction levels. Simple examples are used to illustrate the proposed concepts

Enhancing the EAST-ADL error model with HiP-HOPS semantics

EAST-ADL is a domain-specific modelling language for the engineering of automotive embedded systems. The language has abstractions that enable engineers to capture a variety of information about design in the course of the lifecycle — from requirements to detailed design of hardware and software architectures. The specification of the EAST-ADL language includes an error model extension which documents language structures that allow potential failures of design elements to be specified locally. The effects of these failures are then later assessed in the context of the architecture design. To provide this type of useful assessment, a language and a specification are not enough; a compiler-like tool that can read and operate on a system specification together with its error model is needed. In this paper we integrate the error model of EAST-ADL with the precise semantics of HiP-HOPS — a state-of-the-art tool that enables dependability analysis and optimization of design models. We present the integration concept between EAST-ADL structure and HiP-HOPS error propagation logic and its transformation into the HiP-HOPS model. Source and destination models are represented using the corresponding XML formats. The connection of these two models at tool level enables practical EAST-ADL designs of embedded automotive systems to be analysed in terms of dependability, i.e. safety, reliability and availability. In addition, the information encoded in the error model can be re-used across different contexts of application with the associated benefits for cost reduction, simplification, and rationalisation of dependability assessments in complex engineering designs

Supporting public decision making in policy deliberations: An ontological approach

This is the post-print version of the Paper. The official published version can be accessed from the link below - Copyright @ 2011 SpringerSupporting public decision making in policy deliberations has been a key objective of eParticipation which is an emerging area of eGovernment. EParticipation aims to enhance citizen involvement in public governance activities through the use of information and communication technologies. An innovative approach towards this objective is exploiting the potentials of semantic web technologies centred on conceptual knowledge models in the form of ontologies. Ontologies are generally defined as explicit human and computer shared views on the world of particular domains. In this paper, the potentials and benefits of using ontologies for policy deliberation processes are discussed. Previous work is then extended and synthesised to develop a deliberation ontology. The ontology aims to define the necessary semantics in order to structure and interrelate the stages and various activities of deliberation processes with legal information, participant stakeholders and their associated arguments. The practical implications of the proposed framework are illustrated.This work is funded by the European Commission under the 2006/1 eParticipation call

An object-oriented approach to structuring multicriteria decision support in natural resource management problems

Includes bibliographical references.The undertaking of MCDM (Multicriteria Decision Making) and the development of DSSs (Decision Support Systems) tend to be complex and inefficient, leading to low productivity in decision analysis and DSSs. Towards this end, this study has developed an approach based on object orientation for MCDM and DSS modelling, with the emphasis on natural resource management. The object-oriented approach provides a philosophy to model decision analysis and DSSs in a uniform way, as shown by the diagrams presented in this study. The solving of natural resource management decision problems, the MCDM decision making procedure and decision making activities are modelled in an object-oriented way. The macro decision analysis system, its DSS, the decision problem, the decision context, and the entities in the decision making procedure are represented as "objects". The object-oriented representation of decision analysis also constitutes the basis for the analysis ofDSSs

Requirements elicitation through viewpoint control in a natural language environment

While requirements engineering is about building a conceptual model of part of reality, requirements validation involves assessing the model for correctness, completeness, and consistency. Viewpoint resolution is the process of comparing different views of a given situation and reconciling different opinions. In his doctoral dissertation Leite [72] proposes viewpoint resolution as a means for early validation of requirements of large systems. Leite concentrates on the representation of two different views using a special language, and the identification of their syntactic differences. His method relies heavily on redundancy: two viewpoints (systems analysts) should consider the same topic, use the same vocabulary, and use the same rule-based language which constrains how the rules should be expressed. The quality of discrepancies that can be detected using his method depends on the quality of the viewpoints. The hypothesis of this thesis is that, independently of the quality of the viewpoints, the number of viewpoints, the language, and the domain, it is possible to detect better quality discrepancies and to point out problems earlier than Leite's method allows. In the first part of this study, viewpoint-oriented requirements engineering methods are classified into categories based on the kind of multiplicity the methods address: multiple human agents, multiple specification processes, or multiple representation schemes. The classification provides a framework for the comparison and the evaluation of viewpoint-based methods. The study then focuses on the critical evaluation of Leite's method both analytically and experimentally. Counter examples were designed to identify the situations the method cannot handle. The second part of the work concentrates on the development of a method for the very early validation of requirements that improves on Leite's method and pushes the boundaries of the validation process upstream towards fact-finding, and downstream towards conflicts resolution. The Viewpoint Control Method draws its principles from the fields of uncertainty management and natural language engineering. The basic principle of the method is that, in order to make sense of a domain one must learn about the information sources and create models of their behaviour. These models are used to assess pieces of information, in natural language, received from the sources and to resolve conflicts between them. The models are then reassessed in the light of feedback from the results of the process of information evaluation and conflict resolution. Among the implications of this approach is the very early detection of problems, and the treatment of conflict resolution as an explicit and an integral part of the requirements engineering process. The method is designed to operate within a large environment called LOLITA that supports relevant aspects of natural language engineering. In the third part of the study the Viewpoint Control Method is applied and experimentally evaluated, using examples and practical case studies. Comparing the proposed approach to Leite's shows that the Viewpoint Control Method is of wider scope, is able to detect problems earlier, and is able to point out better quality problems. The conclusions of the investigation support the view that underlines the naivety of assuming competence or objectivity of each source of information

A solution for actors' viewpoints representation with collaborative product development

As product complexity and marketing competition increase, a collaborative product development is necessary for companies which develop high quality products in short lead-times. To support product actors from different fields, disciplines, and locations, wishing to exchange and share information, the representation of the actors' viewpoints is the underlying requirement of the collaborative product development. The actors' viewpoints approach was designed to provide an organisational framework following the actors' perspectives in the collaboration, and their relationships, could be explicitly gathered and formatted. The approach acknowledges the inevitability of multiple integration of product information as different views, promotes gathering of actors' interests, and encourages retrieved adequate information while providing support for integration through PLM and/or SCM collaboration. In this paper, a solution for neutral viewpoints representation is proposed. The product, process, and organisation information models are seriatim discussed. A series of issues referring to the viewpoints representation are discussed in detail. Based on XML standard, taking cyclone vessel as an example, an application case of part of product information modelling is stated.Comment: ISBN: 2-287-48363-