Functional decomposition

Abstract: The relative significance of conceptual design to basic design or detail design is widely recognized, due to its influential roles in determining the product's fundamental features and development costs. Although there are some general methodologies dealing with functions in design, virtually no commercial CAD systems can support functional design, in particular so-called synthetic phase of design. Supporting the synthetic phase of conceptual design is one of the crucial issues of CAD systems with function modeling capabilities. In this paper, we propose a computer tool called a Function-Behavior-State (FBS) Modeler to support functional design not only in the analytical phase but also in the synthetic phase. To do so, the functional decomposition knowledge and physical features in the knowledge base of the modeler, and a subsystem Qualitative Process Abduction System (QPAS) play crucial roles. Modeling scheme of function in relation with behavior and structure and design process for conceptual design in the FBS Modeler are described. The advantages of the FBS Modeler are demonstrated by presenting two examples; namely, an experiment in which designers used this tool and the design of functionally redundant machines, which is a new design methodology for highly reliable machines, as its application.

Abstract: Preface. 1. Information. Shannon's Theory of Communication. Measuring Information. Efficient Coding. Information and the Brain. Digital and Analog Signals. Appendix: The Information Content of Rare Versus Common Events and Signals. 2. Bayesian Updating. Bayes' Theorem and Our Intuitions About Evidence. Using Bayes' Rule. Summary. 3. Functions. Functions of One Argument. Composition and Decomposition of Functions. Functions of More than One Argument. The Limits to Functional Decomposition. Functions Can Map to Multi-Part Outputs. Mapping to Multiple-Element Outputs Does Not Increase Expressive Power. Defining Particular Functions. Summary: Physical/Neurobiological Implications of Facts about Functions. 4. Representations. Some Simple Examples. Notation. The Algebraic Representation of Geometry. 5. Symbols. Physical Properties of Good Symbols. Symbol Taxonomy. Summary. 6. Procedures. Algorithms. Procedures, Computation, and Symbols. Coding and Procedures. Two Senses of Knowing. A Geometric Example. 7. Computation. Formalizing Procedures. The Turing Machine. Turing Machine for the Successor Function. Turing Machines for f is -even Turing Machines for f + Minimal Memory Structure. General Purpose Computer. Summary. 8. Architectures. One-Dimensional Look-Up Tables (If-Then Implementation). Adding State Memory: Finite-State Machines. Adding Register Memory. Summary. 9. Data Structures. Finding Information in Memory. An Illustrative Example. Procedures and the Coding of Data Structures. The Structure of the Read-Only Biological Memory. 10. Computing with Neurons. Transducers and Conductors. Synapses and the Logic Gates. The Slowness of It All. The Time-Scale Problem. Synaptic Plasticity. Recurrent Loops in Which Activity Reverberates. 11. The Nature of Learning. Learning As Rewiring. Synaptic Plasticity and the Associative Theory of Learning. Why Associations Are Not Symbols. Distributed Coding. Learning As the Extraction and Preservation of Useful Information. Updating an Estimate of One's Location. 12. Learning Time and Space. Computational Accessibility. Learning the Time of Day. Learning Durations. Episodic Memory. 13. The Modularity of Learning. Example 1: Path Integration. Example 2: Learning the Solar Ephemeris. Example 3: "Associative" Learning. Summary. 14. Dead Reckoning in a Neural Network. Reverberating Circuits as Read/Write Memory Mechanisms. Implementing Combinatorial Operations by Table-Look-Up. The Full Model. The Ontogeny of the Connections? How Realistic is the Model? Lessons to be Drawn. Summary. 15. Neural Models of Interval Timing. Timing an Interval on First Encounter. Dworkin's Paradox. Neurally Inspired Models. The Deeper Problems. 16. The Molecular Basis of Memory. The Need to Separate Theory of Memory from Theory of Learning. The Coding Question. A Cautionary Tale. Why Not Synaptic Conductance? A Molecular or Sub-Molecular Mechanism? Bringing the Data to the Computational Machinery. Is It Universal? References. Glossary. Index.