AND GRACEFUL DEGRADATION .
THE REQUIREMENTS ARE TO ESTABLISH THE SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE IMPLICATIONS OF THE OFFICE SYSTEMS AND COMPUTER INTEGRATED MANUFACTURING OFFERED BY DEVELOPMENTS IN MICROELECTRONICS , AS WELL AS ATTEMPTING TO INCORPORATE THE MOVING BOUNDARY BETWEEN HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE TO ENSURE HIGH-LEVEL END EFFICIENT IMPLEMENTATIONS .
IN ORDER TO KEEP IN STEP WITH ADVANCES , PROJECTS IN THIS AREA SHOULD BE DESIGNED TO PRODUCE PROTOTYPES IN A VERY SHORT TIME . AS THIS PROJECT ATTEMPTS TO BRIDGE THE GAP BETWEEN COMPONENT DEVELOPMENT AND SYSTEM APPLICATION , VERY CLOSE COORDINATION WITH THE OTHER SUB-PROGRAMMES OF ESPRIT WILL BE ESSENTIAL .
PROGRAMME
CONTINUOUS PRODUCTION OF PROTOTYPES IN VARIOUS AREAS , WITH INDIVIDUAL SYSTEMS RARELY TAKING MORE THAN ONE YEAR FROM INITIAL SPECIFICATION TO PROTOTYPE IMPLEMENTATION .
PROPOSALS ARE INVITED FOR TYPE A PROJECTS AND FOR SUPPORTING TYPE B PROJECTS IN THIS AREA . CANDIDATE RESEARCH THEMES INCLUDE :
- SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE OPPORTUNITIES AND PROBLEMS CAUSED BY ADVANCES IN MICROELECTRONICS , AIP AND OTHER AREAS OF ESPRIT .
- HIGH SPEED BUS DEVELOPMENT .
- NETWORKING OF HETEROGENEOUS SYSTEMS .
NOTE THAT RELATED WORK IS DESCRIBED IN AREA AND RELATED PROPOSALS ARE REQUESTED IN AND 5.4.4 .
R AND D AREA 3.5 : DESIGN AND SYSTEM ASPECTS
DESCRIPTION
THIS R AND D AREA COVERS THE URGENTLY NEEDED STANDARDS , SPECIAL SPECIFICATION AND VERIFICATION TECHNIQUES , DESIGN METHODS , GENERAL SYSTEM METHODS , AND CATALOGUES OF INFORMATION AND TECHNICAL MONITORING WHICH ARE RELEVANT TO THE OTHER ACTIVITIES WITH THE AIP SUB-PROGRAMME .
THERE ARE TWO KEY OBJECTIVES HERE :
- TO PRODUCE ORDER OUT OF THE CURRENT DIVERSITY OF APPROACHES TO AIP
- TO DEVELOP TECHNIQUES FOR PRODUCING RELIABLE AND TRUSTWORTHY AIP SYSTEMS AND FOR MAINTAINING THEM AS THEY ADAPT TO CHANGING CIRCUMSTANCES .
CORRESPONDING MOTIVATIONS EXIST IN THE SOFTWARE TECHNOLOGY AREA AND THIS ACTIVITY WILL BE COORDINATED WITH 2.1.3 ; HOWEVER CERTAIN FEATURES OF AIP JUSTIFY THE EMPHASIS HERE . THESE ARE :
- THE LACK OF ANY EXISTING WORK WHICH IS ATTUNED TO AIP
- THE NEED FOR SUCH WORK , IN VIEW OF THE COMPLEXITY , INDETERMINANCY , ADAPTABILITY AND SELF-MONITORING POTENTIAL FOR AIP SYSTEMS .
3.5.1 . A LIFE CYCLE MODEL OF AIP SYSTEMS ( TYPE A )
DESCRIPTION
THIS TASK COVERS THE ASPECTS OF :
- REQUIREMENTS DEFINITION AND VALIDATION
- DESIGN
- IMPLEMENTATION
- TESTING
- MAINTENANCE
- CONFIGURATION AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND THEIR ASSOCIATED TECHNIQUES .
AN IMPORTANT ASPECT OF THE APPROACH WHICH IS ADOPTED HERE IS THE INTRODUCTION OF A LEVEL OF SYSTEM SPECIFICATION INTERMEDIATE BETWEEN THAT OF THE EXTERNAL REQUIREMENTS AND THE INTERNAL SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE SPECIFICATIONS . THIS INTERMEDIATE LEVEL SHOULD REFLECT THE NATURE OF AIP SYSTEMS , ADOPTING APPROPRIATE PRIMITIVE NOTIONS AND RELATIONSHIPS FOR SPECIFYING INFERENCE TECHNIQUES , KNOWLEDGE REPRESENTATIONS AND OTHER ASPECTS , SO THAT RELEVANT AIP CONCEPTS CAN BE DESCRIBED CLEARLY IN A WAY WHICH MAY GUIDE THE DESIGN OF SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE . HOWEVER , IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT THE SOFTWARE-HARDWARE LEVEL AND THE AIP CONCEPTUAL