CIRCUIT BASE - A RELATIONAL APPROACH TO INTEGRATING SYSTEMS ENGINEERING AND RAM/CAD/CAE

INVESTIGATION OF THE APPLICABILITY OF THE CIRCUIT BASE CONCEPT IS HEREIN PROPOSED. THE CIRCUIT BASE CONCEPT IS A RELATIONAL DATABASE METHODOLOGY FOR INTEGRATING CAD/CAE SOFTWARE AND FOR MANAGING ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS ENGINEERING DATA. IT IS INNOVATIVE IN THE USE OF A RELATIONAL APPROACH, IN INCLUDING SYSTEMS CONFIGURATION AND ENGINEERING DATA, AND IN INTERFACING WITH RELIABILITY AND OTHER SYSTEMS ENGINEERING SOFTWARE. CIRCUIT BASE INTERFACES CAD/CAE TASKS IN SUCH A MANNER THAT THE DESIGN ENGINEER DOES NOT HAVE TO RE-DESCRIBE THE SCHEMATIC FOR EACH APPLICATION PROGRAM. INSTEAD, THE CIRCUIT BASE SOFTWARE ENTERS RESULTS FROM ONE PROGRAM INTO THE DATABASE AND EXTRACTS CORRECTLY FORMATTED INPUT FILES TO THE NEXT PROGRAM. IMPLEMENTING THESE MODULES IN A RELATIONAL DBMS LANGUAGE GIVES MANAGEMENT CONTROL OVER ENGINEERING PROJECT DATA. THE PHASE I EFFORT WILL ADDRESS THE MOST UNCERTAIN ASPECT OF THE INNOVATION - WHETHER THE DATABASE CONCEPT IS ADEQUATE TO ACCOMMODATE ALL OF THE DATA NEEDS OF THE VARIOUS CAE PROCEDURES. THEREFORE IT WILL CONCENTRATE ON THE ANALYSIS OF THE ENGINEERING DATA REQUIREMENTS AND SPECIFICATION OF THE DATA DICTIONARIES.