Bottom-up construction of ontologies

Presents a particular way of building ontologies that proceeds in a bottom-up fashion. Concepts are defined in a way that mirrors the way their instances are composed out of smaller objects. The smaller objects themselves may also be modeled as being composed. Bottom-up ontologies are flexible through the use of implicit and, hence, parsimonious part-whole and subconcept-superconcept relations. The bottom-up method complements current practice, where, as a rule, ontologies are built top-down. The design method is illustrated by an example involving ontologies of pure substances at several levels of detail. It is not claimed that bottom-up construction is a generally valid recipe; indeed, such recipes are deemed uninformative or impossible. Rather, the approach is intended to enrich the ontology developer's toolki

Introduction to TIPS: a theory for creative design

A highly intriguing problem in combining artificial intelligence and engineering design is automation of the creative and innovative phases of the design process. This paper gives a brief introduction to the theory of inventive problem solving (TIPS) selected as a theoretical basis of the authors' research efforts in this field. The research is conducted in the Stevin Project of the Knowledge-Based System Group of the University of Twente (Enschede, The Netherlands) in cooperation with the Invention Machine Laboratory (Minsk, Belarus). This collaboration aims at developing a formal basis for the creation of an automated reasoning system to support creative engineering design

A knowledge-based approach to VLSI-design in an open CAD-environment

A knowledge-based approach is suggested to assist a designer in the increasingly complex task of generating VLSI-chips from abstract, high-level specifications of the system. The complexity of designing VLSI-circuits has reached a level where computer-based assistance has become indispensable. Not all of the design tasks allow for algorithmic solutions. AI technique can be used, in order to support the designer with computer-aided tools for tasks not suited for algorithmic approaches. The approach described in this paper is based upon the underlying characteristics of VLSI design processes in general, comprising all stages of the design. A universal model is presented, accompanied with a recording method for the acquisition of design knowledge - strategic and task-specific - in terms of the design actions involved and their effects on the design itself. This method is illustrated by a simple design example: the implementation of the logical EXOR-component. Finally suggestions are made for obtaining a universally usable architecture of a knowledge-based system for VLSI-design

Time delay estimation in nonlinear systems

Methods for the estimation of time delay usually require the assumption of a linear channel between pairs of signals. In this paper we study an estimator (using the concept of average mutual amount of information) which is usable in the case of nonlinear channels. Simulation experiments for a linear system, a squaring system, and a rectifying system show encouraging results

CQE: a query engine for coordinated index terms

To contribute to the development of a sophisticated control of bibliographic works research must build on the growing understanding of the nature of the work and the constitution of bibliographic families. The present study was designed to address the following in the context of a global bibliographic database: the OCLC Online Computer Library Center's WorldCat: the proportion of works that are members of bibliographic families; the size of each family; bibliographic characteristics that can be associated with the existence or extent of derivative bibliographic relationships; the frequency with which each type of relationship appears; and the complexity of bibliographic families. A sample of bibliographic families was constructed. Results indicate that a core of works of similar character constitute the bibliographic population of American academic and research libraries (OCLC members). It seems that the canon of derivative works is greater in the academic sphere than in the bibliographic universe represented by OCLC at large. The size of a bibliographic family seems to be related to its popularity or its canonicity. Discipline, form, and genre all fail to demonstrate any influence on derivation of works. Further study of specific segments of the bibliographic universe, for instance the literature of particular disciplines, is clearly called for. The purpose of this research is to contribute to the development of a sophisticated control of bibliographic works and families. In particular, this research is designed to build on our growing understanding of the nature of the work and the constitution of bibliographic families