gn problem can be abstractly characterized as a constrained function-to-structure mapping. The de sign task takes as input the specifications of the desired functions of a device and the constraints on the design, and produces as output a specification of a structure that realizes the desired functions and satisfies the con straints. One way to analyze a complex task such as design is to identify the methods that can be applied to the task, the knowledge and control that these methods require, and the subtasks generated by them. This anal ysis produces a task structure [Chandrasekaran, 1989], i.e., a task-subtask decomposition of the problem, along with a specification of the knowledge required for each of the subtasks. For a given task in this task structure, the choice of the method can depend on the knowledge available to the problem solver and the computational efficiency of finding the solution by various methods ap plicable to the task. One method for solving design probl...
Ashok K. Goel, B. Chandrasekaran