DeMAID: A Design Manager's Aide for Intelligent Decomposition user's guide

Abstract

A design problem is viewed as a complex system divisible into modules. Before the design of a complex system can begin, the couplings among modules and the presence of iterative loops is determined. This is important because the design manager must know how to group the modules into subsystems and how to assign subsystems to design teams so that changes in one subsystem will have predictable effects on other subsystems. Determining these subsystems is not an easy, straightforward process and often important couplings are overlooked. Moreover, the planning task must be repeated as new information become available or as the design specifications change. The purpose of this research is to develop a knowledge-based tool called the Design Manager's Aide for Intelligent Decomposition (DeMAID) to act as an intelligent advisor for the design manager. DeMaid identifies the subsystems of a complex design problem, orders them into a well-structured format, and marks the couplings among the subsystems to facilitate the use of multilevel tools. DeMAID also provides the design manager with the capability of examining the trade-offs between sequential and parallel processing. This type of approach could lead to a substantial savings or organizing and displaying a complex problem as a sequence of subsystems easily divisible among design teams. This report serves as a User's Guide for the program