TASK MASTER (TM): A REAL-TIME KNOWLEDGE PROCESSING EXECUTIVE

NUMEROUS ARMY COMMAND AND CONTROL APPLICATIONS HAVE REQUIREMENTS FOR REAL-TIME EXECUTION OF KNOWLEDGE-BASED SYSTEMS. HOWEVER, EXISTING COMPUTER HARDWARE PLATFORMS AND SOFTWARE SYSTEMS (LANGUAGE, TOOLS, SHELLS, ETC.) ARE NOT ADEQUATE FOR APPLICATIONS REQUIRING REAL-TIME KNOWLEDGE-BASED PROCESSING. KNOWLEDGE-BASED SYSTEMS HAVE HISTORICALLY BEEN DEVELOPED WITH NON-REAL-TIME APPLICATIONS AS THEIR PRIMARY FOCUS (E.G., EXPERT MEDICAL CONSULTANTS, OFFLINE DIAGNOSTICS, AND ADVISORS). THE FUNDAMENTAL DESIGN CONCEPTS NECESSARY FOR REAL-TIME PEFORMANCE WERE NOT CONSIDERED IN THE DESIGN OF THE LANGUAGES, SHELLS AND TOOLS USED FOR KNOWLEDGE-BASED PROCESSING. TO IMPLEMENT REAL-TIME KNOWLEDGE PROCESSING SYSTEMS, IT IS NECESSARY TO IDENTIFY AND SOLVE THE UNIQUE ENGINEERING PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH REAL-TIME APPLICATIONS. THE SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE OF THIS RESEARCH IS TO DEVELOP A SOFTWARE EXECUTION ENVIRONMENT FOR REAL-TIME KNOWLEDGE PROCESSING APPLICATIONS. THIS EXECUTION ENVIRONMENT WILL PROVIDE THE NECESSARY CONTROL FEATURES REQUIRED TO MANAGE REAL-TIME PROBLEM SOLVING. WE TERM THIS REAL-TIME KNOWLEDGE PROCESSING EXECUTIVE TASKMASTER.