RECENT VLSI ADVANCES IN THE DOD VHSIC PROGRAM HAVE RESULTED IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF MODULAR MULTIPROCESSOR ARCHITECTURES WHICH CAN BE "MIXED AND MATCHED" TO DESIGN EMBEDDED MILITARY ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS FOR NUMEROUS APPLICATIONS.

RECENT VLSI ADVANCES IN THE DOD VHSIC PROGRAM HAVE RESULTED IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF MODULAR MULTIPROCESSOR ARCHITECTURES WHICH CAN BE "MIXED AND MATCHED" TO DESIGN EMBEDDED MILITARY ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS FOR NUMEROUS APPLICATIONS. TO DESIGN WITH THESE MODULES, IT IS NECESSARY TO DO EXTENSIVE TRADEOFF ANALYSES REQUIRING THE DESIGNER TO BE AN EXPERT ON THE DESIGN PROCESS AS WELL AS THE AVAILABLE MODULES AND ARCHITECTURES. BECAUSE THIS PROCESS IS CURRENTLY DONE MANUALLY, IT IS NOT POSSIBLE FOR THESE TRADEOFFS TO BE DONE IN A TIMELY AND COST EFFECTIVE MANNER, RESULTING IN NON-OPTIMAL DESIGNS. THE PURPOSE OF OUR PHASE I RESEARCH IS TO DETERMINE THE FEASIBILITY OF DEVELOPING AN EXPERT DESIGN AID WHICH HAS KNOWLEDGE OF BOTH THE DESIGN PROCESS AND THE MODULAR ARCHITECTURES. THIS WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED THROUGH THE DEFINITION OF THE KEY COMPONENTS OF THE EXPERT SYSTEMS KNOWLEDGE BASE BY (1) DEFINING A HIERARCHICAL METHOD FOR INPUTTING THE EMBEDDED ELECTRONIC SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS, (2) REVIEWING AND CLASSIFYING MODULAR ARCHITECTURES, AND (3) DEFINING THE RULES AND INFERENCE STRUCTURES REQUIRED TO PERFORM ARCHITECTURAL TRADEOFFS. THIS KNOWLEDGE BASE DEFINITION WILL ESTABLISH THE FRAMEWORK ON WHICH TO DEVELOP THE EXPERT SYSTEM IN PHASE II.