Towards a System Design Discipline

系统设计是一门手艺，也是一门学科。实践这门手艺需要专业知识。本提案旨在通过系统描述框架、行为、实现和性能的分级方法来制定设计学科。该方法将建立在混合系统、分层和分布式控制以及认知科学和智能系统元素的现有工作基础上。在填补空白和探索有前途的方向的同时，将开发一些新的理论和计算材料。这项工作的最终成果将是：(1)描述我们的系统设计方法的文章和专著；（二）有助于设计的创建、验证和实施的软件工具；(3)为交通和通信网络中的具体问题提供解决方案的设计。该方法适用于从事大型分布式动力系统设计的工程师和学生。该方法将分三个阶段进行阐述，依次深化理论理解和考察更困难的具体设计问题。Pass I提供了SHIFT系统建模的快速介绍，SHIFT是一种用于表示和模拟相互连接的混合系统动态网络的编程语言。第二阶段致力于框架建模、系统行为分析和实时实现。第三阶段发展了系统架构的理论和架构设计的原则。第1阶段的材料已经存在，因此这里的工作是为混合系统创建一种合适的符号，这种符号在数学上是熟悉的，在语法上作为编程辅助工具是方便的。这一努力不应超过6个月。近五年来产生的大量混合系统理论为第二阶段提供了大量材料。该材料将通过扩展最近关于混合系统行为的近似和鲁棒性的结果而得到扩充。还需要制定实时实现的定义，利用实时语言和操作系统中的现有工作。本部分将借鉴加州PATH项目中对实时汽车控制的研究。第一个版本的通行证II应在18个月内完成。第三阶段将尝试发展一种系统架构理论，将其作为感知和控制所必需的分层、分布式功能组织。这一尝试将借鉴认知科学、分布式、分层系统和智能系统的思想，以及自动化高速公路和通信网络的设计经验。这一部分还将关注系统性能的评估（包括逻辑和定量标准），并展示适当结构的设计如何协助性能评估。第三阶段是拟议研究中风险最大的部分。它应该在两年内完成。项目的第三年将致力于在具体应用的背景下测试理论和软件工具。与这项工作一起开发的艺术入门研究生课程也将用于评估该方法的学习效果。

ECS-9725148 Varaiya System design is a craft and a discipline. Practice of the craft requires domain knowledge. This proposal seeks to formulate a discipline of design through a graduated approach to system description frameworks, behavior, implementation and performance. The approach will build on existing work in hybrid systems, hierarchical and distributed control, and elements of cognitive science and intelligent systems. Some new theoretical and computational material will be developed while filling in gaps and exploring promising directions. The end product of this effort will be: (1) articles and a monograph describing our approach to system design; (2) software tools that aid in the creation of the design, its validation and implementation; and (3) designs that offer solutions to concrete problems in transportation and communication networks. The approach is intended for engineers and students engaged in the design of large, distributed dynamical systems. The approach will be elaborated in three passes, successively deepening theoretical understanding and examining more difficult, concrete problems of design. Pass I provides a rapid introduction to system modeling in SHIFT, a programming language for representing and simulating a dynamic network of interconnected hybrid systems. Pass II is devoted to modeling frameworks, analysis of system behavior, and real-time implementation. Pass III develops a theory of system architecture and principles for architecture design. The material for Pass I already exists, so the work here is to create a felicitous notation for hybrid systems that is mathematically familiar and syntactically convenient as a programming aid. This effort should last not more than six months. The significant body of hybrid systems theory produced in the last five years provides much material for Pass II. That material will be augmented by extending recent results on approximations and robustness of hybrid systems behavior. Also needed will be a formul ation of what is meant by real-time implementation, making use of existing work in real-time languages and operating systems. This part will draw upon research in real-time automotive control in the California PATH Program. The first version of Pass II should be complete within eighteen months. Pass III will attempt to develop a theory of system architecture as a hierarchical, distributed organization of functions necessary for perception and control. The attempt will draw upon ideas from cognitive science, distributed, hierarchical systems, and intelligent systems, and upon experience in the design of automated highways and communication networks. This part will also be concerned with the evaluation of system performance (including both logical and quantitative criteria) and show how a properly structured design assists performance evaluation. Pass III is the riskiest portion of the proposed research. It should be complete within two years. The third year of the project will be devoted to testing the theory and software tools within the context of specific applications. Art introductory graduate-level course developed alongside this work will also serve to evaluate how well the approach can be learned.