Design issues of real-time knowledge based systems

PERFECT (Programming EnviRonment For Expertsystems Constrained in reasoning Time) aims at supporting knowledge engineers during the development of real-time knowledge based systems (RTKBS). It provides support at the knowledge level (Newell 1981) in offering guidance in modeling complex industrial processes, and in supplying ways to use this knowledge model during problem solving. A generic modeling technique for RTKBS is described. A part from support in modelling, PERFECT also provides support at the level of (real-time) software engineering by means of an analyzer that predicts the response-time of the knowledge model at run-time when using the model for diagnosis of disturbance. In case the response-time is not as required, the analyzer proposes an alternative structure for the knowledge model and checks whether the resulting knowledge model is observable. (author). 18 refs, 10 figs