JP3102222B2 - Knowledge acquisition method and its implementation device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to design knowledge used to determine the next stage of design work based on a design example obtained at one stage of design work for a logic circuit, control system soft logic, or the like. The present invention relates to a knowledge acquisition method and a knowledge acquisition device, and more particularly, to a knowledge acquisition method and a knowledge acquisition device that derive design conditions and design procedures from design drawing data and store them as a database.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a step-by-step design process in which a certain stage of a design result having an in-context relationship is defined as a functional diagram and a subsequent stage is a detailed diagram, a design using a block diagram-type drawing is performed. In the supporting system, a functional diagram represents a function of a design target to be realized, and a detailed diagram represents a means for realizing the function. In the process of developing this system, it is necessary to acquire design knowledge and create a knowledge base. For this reason, at first, the engineer performing the knowledge acquisition work interviewed the designer, analyzed the results, and manually compiled the knowledge. As a result, it was found that there were specific refinement operation groups (axioms) for each field. After that, the design knowledge is created by manually selecting the desired refinement operation from the axioms that were empirically obtained with reference to the functional diagram and the detailed diagram. Less than,
As a representative example, an axiom system in the field of logic circuit design and control system soft logic design will be described.

[0003] In the field of logic circuit design for semiconductor integrated circuits, when converting logic from a functional diagram giving the functional configuration of a circuit to a circuit diagram representing connection information for each semiconductor element, conversion rules and design standards are used. There is a technology for using the information as design knowledge to achieve automation. In this technology, an operation (macro expansion) of converting internal information of a functional block into more detailed circuit element connection information, and optimization of replacing a plurality of cells with one cell in a redundant portion included in the converted circuit diagram Operations are axiomatic. For example, the macro expansion
A simple connection relationship in which the element B is connected to the element name of the functional block or the element A is a condition part of the conversion knowledge. That is, it can be applied to relatively simple design operations such as macro expansion and optimization operations. However, this cannot be applied to the case where an element is omitted in the functional diagram or a complicated case where other knowledge is applied according to the result of a certain refinement operation.

[0004] On the other hand, in the field of control software logic design, a publication of the Atomic Energy Society of Japan (Vol. 32, No. 11,
1990), it is said that the refinement operation in the control software logic design can be expressed by a combination (axiom system) of the following three types of refinement operation groups.

(1) An operation group in which new elements are combined and inserted into a functional diagram in order to change the characteristics of control signals and the operation conditions.

(2) To change the control signal to be used,
An operation group that changes the positions of branches and connection lines.

(3) An operation group for adding a branch of a connection line, adding an element, or expanding an element to refine the inside in order to use the control signal without changing its characteristics.

A system for supporting logic design by sequentially applying these three types of operation groups has been developed.

The axiom system of the logic circuit design is included in the axiomatic system of the control software design. In general, the detailing operation on the block diagram type drawing includes the axiom system of the control software design.

In acquiring the design knowledge in the field of the logic circuit design, there is a technique relating to a tool for supporting the knowledge acquisition. The technique employs a method of modifying an existing design knowledge having a similar conclusion part or creating a conclusion part directly from a circuit pattern. That is, since the conclusion is relatively simple, such a method can be applied. However, in the general case, it is necessary to handle at least the three types of operation groups, so that the conclusion is complicated and cannot be directly applied.

In order to acquire design knowledge in the field of mechanical design, a method has been proposed in which an object is designated from its display screen using a mechanical CAD and a design standard for the object is extracted. For example, in the design of a plant, a design criterion such as how far away from a wall must be when arranging a heat pipe is extracted. When the design criterion is used for function verification, the design criterion corresponds to the condition part of the verification knowledge, and the conclusion part is manually created. However, the design criterion is mainly based on the condition part of the verification knowledge, whereas the detailed operation is mainly based on the conclusion part of the design knowledge, and therefore cannot be directly applied.

[0012]

Generally, in the process of acquiring knowledge, a designer compares a functional diagram with a detailed diagram to determine which axiom of the axiom system of the detailing operation corresponds to the conclusion of the design knowledge. I judge it. Therefore, the quality of knowledge depends on the skill level and subjectivity of the designer. Neither of the above two methods can assist such a designer's decision. Therefore, in order to acquire design knowledge, it is necessary to rationally create a complicated conclusion.

An object of the present invention is to generate information representing a detailed structural diagram of logic from a functional logic diagram and design a specific program or semiconductor circuit pattern, as is often used in the design of software or semiconductor integrated circuits. Involved in so-called "program automatic generation" and "logic synthesis" technology,
An object of the present invention is to provide a method and an apparatus for assisting extraction of design knowledge for generating detailed information from an existing design drawing.

It is another object of the present invention to extract design knowledge by referring to existing design drawings that have been used when formulating design knowledge used for automatic generation of a program, and to obtain high-quality design knowledge. And a device for implementing the method.

[0015]

An object of the present invention is to provide a target range for extracting design knowledge on a display screen with respect to drawing data such as a functional diagram and a detailed diagram, and a corresponding element present in each drawing data within the target range. Is specified, all the conversion patterns of the detailing operation of the knowledge conclusion part are determined, the knowledge conclusion part is created, an initial plan is presented, and the designer is urged to modify the general knowledge.

[0016]

[Action] A conclusion part is created from the connection relationship between the corresponding element of the target range for extracting design knowledge and another element, and a condition part is created from the attribute information and the connection relation of the corresponding element existing in each specified drawing data. Then, since the condition part of the design knowledge is presented as the initial plan, the conditional expression including the initial plan is estimated, and the initial plan is corrected, so that the designer can be given a clue for acquiring the knowledge.

A target range for extracting design knowledge is designated on a drawing data display screen, and attribute information and connection information of elements in the target range are extracted from a drawing database. Next, by specifying the corresponding elements existing in each drawing data within the target range and examining the connection relationship between the corresponding elements and other elements, it is possible to determine all conversion patterns of the complementing operation of the knowledge conclusion part. Becomes possible.

[0018]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

First, the configuration of an example of the knowledge acquisition device according to the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 shows the configuration. According to this, the design case is read from the drawing storage device 6 and the design case is displayed on the display device 1. Therefore, the image display device 2 reads the drawing image coordinate data from the image data storage device 3. Next, a knowledge extraction range is designated from the input device 4, design knowledge is extracted, and the design knowledge is stored in the knowledge storage device 7. For this processing, the arithmetic processing device 5 includes an arithmetic unit 5a, a processing procedure storage unit 5b, and an input unit. Part 5
c, image data output unit 5d, design knowledge data output unit 5
e, a drawing data input unit 5f and an intermediate data storage unit 5g. The processing procedure stored in the processing procedure storage unit 5b is to be called from the sequential operation unit 5a.

FIG. 2 shows design knowledge extracted from a design example by the arithmetic processing unit 5 in the knowledge acquisition apparatus according to the present invention.
It is a figure which shows an example of the processing flow acquired in the form of an if-then type rule.

First, in step 8, processing for reading the detailed diagram data 13 and the functional diagram data 14 stored in the drawing storage device 6 and displaying them on the display device 1 is performed. FIG.
Steps 20 and 21 show the processing in step 8 in more detail.

In step 20, the data of the functional diagram is read, and the functional diagram is displayed on the display device in the form of a block diagram.
FIG. 4 shows a display example of the function diagram.

Next, in step 21, the data of the detailed diagram is read, and the detailed diagram is displayed on the display device in the form of a block diagram. FIG. 5 shows a display example of the detailed diagram.

In this embodiment, the functional diagram and detailed diagram data include connection information between blocks, arrangement coordinates of blocks and connection lines between blocks, and attributes of blocks. FIG. 6 shows the data structure of the functional diagram and the detailed diagram.

The functional diagram and the detailed diagram are block diagram drawings stored in the drawing storage device 6, respectively. That is, for example, a block diagram rearranged in the form of a detailed diagram obtained by inserting / adding a block or replacing the inside of the block with detailed block connection information with respect to the block diagram of the functional diagram. On the other hand, the actual software logic is described by further complementing individual logics according to the design specifications, and the quality of the product is guaranteed. In other words, the drawing storage device 6
Are guaranteed in quality as past design examples.

Next, in step 9 in FIG. 2, a process of deriving the correspondence between the components present in both drawings using the components and connection information of the detailed diagram data 13 and the functional diagram data 14 is performed. Steps 22 to 24 in FIG. 3 show the processing in step 9 in more detail.

In step 22, a target range is specified using the input device 4 in the detailed diagram and the function diagram displayed on the display device 1 in order to facilitate the extraction of the corresponding element specified in step 23.

Further, in step 23, the same type of blocks included in both the detailed diagram and the functional diagram in the target range designated in step 22 are designated as corresponding elements by using the input device 4 one set at a time. I do. FIG. 4 shows the target range of the functional diagram displayed on the display device 1 and the selection result of the corresponding element. FIG. 5 shows a target range and a corresponding element selection result of the detailed view displayed on the display device 1. This example shows a case where the inside of a block is replaced with detailed block connection information.

Further, in step 24, it is determined whether or not the blocks designated as corresponding ones in step 23 are of the same type (indicating that the arithmetic and logical functions are the same). For example, if the block specified in the functional diagram is the "addition" element, but the corresponding element in the detailed diagram is the "product operation" element, such a correspondence is invalid. It is because it is necessary to exclude as.

FIG. 7 shows a detailed processing procedure of step 24.

First, in step 38 of FIG. 7, a set of blocks designated as corresponding ones is taken out. Next, in step 39, 2 included in the extracted set
Whether two blocks are of the same type
The determination is made using the connection information. If it is determined in step 39 that the blocks are of the same type, the same determination is repeated for the other sets of blocks, and then, after step 25 shown in FIG. move on. on the other hand,
If step 39 determines that a different type of block has been designated, this set is deleted as invalid and
Further, returning to step 23, a procedure for prompting designation of another correspondence relationship (between blocks in the functional diagram / detailed diagram) is selected.

However, after step 25, the matched data is obtained by the procedure from step 20 to step 24.
Knowledge to convert from a functional diagram to a detailed diagram based on information of blocks defined as a set of blocks of the same type (with the block information of the functional diagram as a condition, complement any detailed block information to construct a detailed diagram Create) and register it in the knowledge base.

Next, in step 10 of FIG. 2, a process of creating a conclusion part of the design knowledge is performed using the components of the detailed diagram data 13 and the functional diagram data 14, the connection information, and the corresponding component data 17. Steps 25 to 33 in FIG. 3 show the processing in step 10 in more detail.

Steps 25, 28 and 31 determine the connection relation of the blocks defined as a set of blocks,
This is a step of estimating what kind of complementation operation has resulted in a detailed diagram and executing a first-stage process for deriving a conclusion part of the knowledge to be created. In the present embodiment, as a representative example of the three types of conversion operation groups used in the control system software logic design, "insertion of a single element (block)" as shown in FIGS. This will be described below with reference to three examples of “change of branch position” and “replace the inside of element (of functional diagram) with detailed logic (macro expansion)”.

Step 25 is a process for determining whether or not the complementing operation is "insertion of element".

FIG. 8 shows a detailed processing procedure of step 25. In steps 41, 42, 43 and 44, the connection relation between the blocks (designated in step 23) is determined.

Step 41 is "whether or not the number of pairs of blocks extracted as having a correspondence is two".
Is determined.

In step 42, when the corresponding blocks are "element A" and "element B", "is the output of" element A "connected to the input of" element B "in the functional diagram data? No ”.

In step 43, it is determined whether "branch is not included between" element A "and" element B "in the detailed diagram data".

In step 44, it is determined whether or not one element exists between "element A" and "element B" in the detailed drawing data.

In Steps 41, 42, 43 and 44, if all the conditions are satisfied, it can be determined that the complementing operation is "insertion of an element".
The procedure is selected below so as to proceed to steps 26 and 27 after the step.

On the other hand, steps 41, 42, 43 and 44
If at least one of the conditions is not satisfied, the complementary operation is not “insertion of an element”, so that the processing shifts to steps 28 and 31 to determine whether or not it is another complementary operation. Choose the procedure you want.

In this example, the following description is made on the assumption that the range of extracting knowledge is limited to a state where the number of designated element sets is two.

First, the procedure for executing steps 26 and 27 when it is determined in step 25 that the complementary operation is "insertion of element" will be described.

Step 26 is a complementary operation "insert element".
Is set as a conclusion part pattern for incorporating into the conclusion part of knowledge. In this example, the conclusion pattern is “insert [% c] between [% a] and [% b]”. Here, symbols having% in the pattern as a prefix (in this example,% a,%
b,% c) represents a variable, and a specific character string is substituted in the following processing.

Next, step 27 is a process for determining the conclusion part of the knowledge to insert the element. Step 27 in FIG.
The detailed processing procedure will be described. First, at step 45, 2
Of the three elements ("Element A" and "Element B"), "Element A" corresponds to the variable% a in the conclusion pattern "[% c] is inserted between [% a] and [% b]" Let it.

In step 46, similarly, "element B" is made to correspond to the variable% b in the conclusion pattern "insert [% c] between [% a] and [% b]".

In step 47, "element A" in the detailed view
Element connected between and "element B" (referred to as "element C")
Is defined as a character string C (for example, AI).

Finally, in step 48, the character string C is substituted for the variable% c in the conclusion pattern "insert [% c] between [% a] and [% b]". Where the variables% a and% b
Is added with information indicating that “element A” and “element B” correspond to each other, so that in the following processing for creating a conditional part, each variable% a used as a variable that specifies a block included in the conditional part
When the attribute / value of the data of “% b” and “% b” is entered, since a specific attribute value exists as a case in the functional diagram database, it can be referred to.

FIG. 16 shows an example of the expression of a knowledge conclusion part representing a complement operation when a block whose element type is CCC is inserted.

Step 28 is a process for judging whether or not the complement operation is "change of branch position".

FIG. 10 shows a detailed processing procedure of step 28. In steps 49, 50, 51 and 52, the connection relation between blocks (designated in step 23) is determined.

Step 49 is "whether or not the number of sets of blocks extracted as having a correspondence is three".
Is determined.

In step 50, when the corresponding blocks are "element A", "element B" and "branch C",
It is determined whether “branch C” exists at the input destination of “element A” in the functional diagram data ”.

In step 51, it is determined whether "branch C" exists at the input destination of "element A" in the detailed diagram data.

In step 52, it is determined whether "branch C" exists at the input destination of "element B" in the detailed diagram data.

In steps 49, 50, 51, and 52, if all the conditions are satisfied, it can be determined that the complementing operation is "change of the branch position". The procedure is selected below to move to steps 29 and 30.

On the other hand, steps 49, 50, 51 and 52
If at least one of the conditions is not satisfied, the complementary operation is not “change of the branch position”, so that it is determined whether or not another complementary operation is performed. Choose a procedure. Next, a description will be given of a procedure for executing steps 29 and 30 when it is determined in step 28 that the complementary operation is "change of the branch position".

Step 29 sets a conclusion part pattern for incorporating the supplementary operation "change of the branch position" into the conclusion part of the knowledge. In this example, the conclusion part pattern is “[% a]
Branch before [% b]. "

Next, step 29 is a process for determining the conclusion part of the knowledge to add the element. Step 3 in FIG.
0 shows a detailed processing procedure.

First, in step 53, "element A" is made to correspond to the variable% a in the conclusion pattern "move branch to [% a] before [% b]".

In step 54, "element B" is made to correspond to the variable% b in the conclusion part pattern "branch to [% a] is moved before [% b]".

Finally, at step 55, the variable% in the conclusion pattern "move branch to [% a] before [% b]"
a and the variable% b are substituted. Here, since information indicating that “element A” corresponds to the variable% a and the variable% b is added, the variable% a and the variable% b are used as variables for designating blocks included in the condition part in the following process of creating the condition part. Each variable% a and%
When the attribute / value of the data b is entered, since a specific attribute value exists as a case in the functional diagram database, it can be referred to.

FIG. 17 shows an example of an expression of a knowledge conclusion part representing a complementary operation when the branch position is changed.

Step 31 is a process for determining whether or not the complementing operation is "expand inside the element with a template".

FIG. 12 shows a detailed processing procedure of step 31. In steps 56, 57, 58 and 59,
The connection relation between the blocks (designated in step 23) is determined.

Step 56 is "whether the number of pairs of blocks extracted as having a correspondence is two or not".
Is determined.

In step 57, when the corresponding blocks are “element A” and “element B”, “one element exists between“ element A ”and“ element B ”in the functional diagram data. Or not, and if present, the element is referred to as “element C”.
And

In step 58, it is determined whether "element C" in the functional diagram is not inherited and included between "element A" and "element B" in the detailed diagram ("element C"). Is not present).

In step 59, it is determined whether "two or more elements exist between" element A "and" element B "in the detailed diagram".

If all the conditions are satisfied in steps 56, 57, 58 and 59, it is possible to determine that the complementing operation is "expand the inside of the element with a template". The procedure is selected below so as to proceed to the subsequent steps 32 and 33.

On the other hand, steps 56, 57, 58 and 59
If even one of them is not satisfied, the supplementary operation is not “expand the inside of the element with a template”, and the procedure to shift to the processing of step 23 is selected to instruct the user to re-specify the corresponding element. I do.

Next, a description will be given of a procedure for executing steps 32 and 33 when it is determined in step 31 that the complementary operation is "expand the inside of the element with a template".

A step 32 sets a conclusion part pattern for incorporating the supplementary operation "expand the inside of the element with a template" into the conclusion part of the knowledge. In this example, the conclusion part pattern is “expanded inside [% a] with template [% b]”
It is.

Step 33 is a process for determining the conclusion part of the knowledge for expanding the inside of the element.

FIG. 13 shows a detailed processing procedure of step 33.

First, in step 60, “element C” (defined in step 57 in step 19) sandwiched between “element A” and “element B” in the functional diagram is defined as the conclusion pattern “[% a] is made to correspond to the variable% a in “expanded by the template [% b]”.

At step 61, the connection information of the element between the "element A" and "element B" in the small size is stored as a template name "T" (described by a character string). Finally, in step 62, the conclusion pattern “[%
a] is expanded with template [% b].
Substitute the character string T for b. Here, since information indicating that “element C” corresponds to the variable% a is added, each variable% a used as a variable designating a block included in the conditional part in the following process of creating the conditional part. When the attribute / value of the data is written, since a specific attribute value exists as a case in the functional diagram database, it can be referred to.

FIG. 18 shows an example of an expression of a knowledge conclusion part representing a complementary operation when the inside of the element B1 is developed with the template "T". In the case of the functional diagram of FIG. 4 and the detailed diagram of FIG. 5, the extracted template S is the data of FIG. This is equivalent to the data structure of the detailed diagram of FIG. 6 excluding the attribute information.

By the above steps 25 to 33, the complementary operation is registered as the conclusion part of the knowledge.

Next, in step 11 of FIG. 2, a process of editing the condition part of the design knowledge is performed using the constituent elements of the functional diagram data 14, the connection information, and the conclusion part data 18.

Steps 34 to 36 in FIG. 3 show the processing in step 11 in more detail.

At step 34, a functional diagram / detail diagram database is searched to create a condition part of knowledge.
The connection relation / attribute information of “element A”, “element B” and the element between them is obtained, and an initial plan of the condition part of knowledge is created.

FIG. 14 shows a detailed processing procedure of step 34.

First, in step 63 of FIG. 14, in addition to the “element A” and “element B” extracted only as one set as the corresponding element in this example, the connection information of the element used as the basis for determining the complementary operation The user (designer) is prompted to specify an element to be newly considered to refer to the attribute information (for example, B6 and B7 in FIG. 4). In this example, a new element can be specified by specifying a block on a CAD screen displaying a functional diagram or a detailed diagram, or by directly specifying a record (information in block units) in a drawing database. Good. Furthermore, the newly specified element and the already specified “element A” and “element B” are registered in the “condition element list”, and are subsequently extracted one by one in steps 64 to 67 to make one unit of the condition.

In steps 64 and 65, until the "condition element list" becomes empty, the elements registered in the "condition element list" are taken out one by one and defined as elements corresponding to one unit of the condition.

At step 66, records (units of information) registered in the "condition element list" are extracted one by one from the detailed map database, and attribute information of the element (for example, the type and signal level of the input signal of the element, etc.) ) Is searched for a connection relationship with another element included in the “condition element list”.

In step 67, the connection information and the attribute information of the element extracted in step 66 are converted into a table format.
It is defined as data that can be read in the display processing of the table data editing tool as a condition part of knowledge.

At step 68, the condition part data and the conclusion part pattern for all the elements included in the "condition element list" are transferred to the display processing part of the table data editing tool, and the output device is displayed on the table data editing tool. The tabular knowledge is displayed on the screen.

Finally, in step 35, in addition to the display processing unit of the tabular data editing tool, the editing processing unit is activated, and the computer edits (corrects, modifies, the initial plan of the knowledge condition unit) presented by the above processing procedure. (Addition, deletion) to the user (designer).

FIG. 20 shows an example of an initial plan of the knowledge condition section displayed on the display screen of the output device by the display processing section of the table data editing tool.

FIG. 15 shows a detailed processing procedure of step 35.

In step 69, for a parameter given in a specific case, when the user accepts the value as a condition of knowledge, a judgment condition including the value is described by a numerical comparison expression. To the user.

Further, in step 70, the user is further prompted to input a comparison value used in the comparison formula described by the user. For example, in FIG. 20, while the parameter 2 of the element B2 is 100, the
Assuming that the user determines that the design information has been used while satisfying the condition of "0 or less", the comparison expression "less" is input in step 69, and the comparison value "200" is input in step 70. The results obtained are shown in FIG.

Finally, in step 71, the user is prompted to set information for the condition items (each row in the table of FIG. 20) presented by the computer to distinguish those that should be considered as conditions from those that should not be considered. In the example of FIG. 21, “use” in the table is used.
Columns marked with "x" indicate that the distinction is set. In this example, among the elements B1, B2, and B3, only the attribute names “element name” and “parameter 2” of the element B2 and the input / output connection relation are considered as conditions.

Finally, in step 36, the end of the above knowledge creation procedure is selected. When the processing is completed, the tabular data is stored in the knowledge base. If the processing is not to be ended, a procedure for shifting to the processing of step 22 is selected in order to instruct the user to re-designate the target range. Next, step 12 in FIG.
Then, a process of synthesizing design knowledge from the conclusion part data 18 and the condition part data 19 is performed. Step 37 in FIG. 3 corresponds.

In step 37, the result of the above processing, the tabular data provided by each processing unit of the table data editing tool is converted into knowledge in the form of an if-then rule, and stored in the knowledge base. FIG. 22 shows an example of the result of the conversion into the if-then rule in step 37. If-then shown in FIG.
The example of the rule is obtained by converting the table data shown in FIG. 21 among the examples used in the description of the above processing procedure.

In the above embodiment, the complementary operation for giving the conclusion part of the knowledge is described as being determined from the connection information of the block elements in the functional diagram and the detailed diagram, and the determination process is performed in steps 25, 28, and 31. It is executed in. On the other hand, for a target range including a plurality of complementary operations, the steps 25, 28, and 31 may be requested by a user (designer) to specify / select. In this case, the user can directly write the conclusion part knowledge pattern set in steps 26, 29, and 32, or select and edit the above table data from the prepared conclusion part pattern. There is a method of displaying and selecting a list of complementary operations on the next screen of the editing tool. FIG. 23 shows an example of a list of the complementary operations.

In addition, this method requires a functional diagram in a state immediately before the design knowledge to be extracted from the detailed diagram is applied. However, generally, such functional diagrams rarely exist. In other words, insert /
In many cases, a detailed drawing is created by combining a plurality of conversion operations so that the expanded element becomes a corresponding element of another conversion operation. In practice, the detailed drawing is modified and design knowledge extracted from it is applied. A method of acquiring design knowledge by using a detailed diagram of the state immediately before the execution as a functional diagram is conceivable. From FIG. 5, the components B21 and B2 of the template S
4 can be created by removing the macro elements 2 and B23 and inserting the macro element B2 instead of the three elements.

FIG. 24 shows an example in which the design knowledge created in steps 27, 30 and 33 is actually applied. FIG. 24 shows four states from (a) to (d).
(a) is a functional diagram which is an input drawing of the support system,
(D) is a detailed diagram which is an output drawing. (B), (c)
Is an intermediate state during the conversion from (a) to (d). First, element insertion “[%
[% c] "is applied between [a] and [% b], and a complement operation of" insert element "is performed. Next, from the state of the result (b), the branch to the branch position change “[% a] is further changed to [% b].
Is applied, and a complementary operation of “change branch position” is performed. Finally, from the state of the result (c), the inside of the element expansion “[% a] is further converted into a template [% b].
Is applied, and a complementary operation of “internal expansion of element A” is performed. In this way, the function diagram is converted into the detailed diagram.

In the above-described embodiment, an example in which design knowledge is newly created has been described. However, a method of searching existing rules and verifying consistency before storing design knowledge in the knowledge base is also used. is there. If there is a similar rule with the same conclusion as the rule to be created as shown in FIG. 25,
Verify the consistency of the rules you create. For example, by examining the derivation relationship between similar rules and presenting the results, it is possible to determine whether other rules can be combined, or
It is determined whether or not the condition part needs to be corrected. FIG. 25 shows a case where there are three similar rules.
When B, C and D are performed, it is shown that rule A has a derivational relationship with rules B and C and the created design knowledge. The designer determines the alternative and the modification of the condition part in consideration of this derivation. In this way, it becomes possible to add rule variations.

Further, the knowledge acquiring method and the knowledge acquiring apparatus of the present invention can be applied not only to a case where the drawing data has a functional diagram and a detailed diagram, but also to a case where the drawing data is a kind of drawing.

[0103]

According to the present invention, existing design drawings can be
Since the conversion knowledge from the functional diagram to the detailed diagram can be created by directly referring to the D screen, the idea of the designer can be guided, and the knowledge base can be easily constructed in a manner that reflects the intention of the designer.

Further, according to the present invention, knowledge condition data is organized using data directly from a drawing database of an existing design drawing, so that limited information on connection relations and attribute values is conventionally manually described. The reliability of the information is improved, and the quality of the created knowledge is improved.

Since the knowledge base obtained by the knowledge acquisition support apparatus of the present invention can be directly referred to by the design support system, the integration of the design support environment to which the evaluation of the acquired knowledge is newly added is performed. Becomes easier.

Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to effectively utilize design cases accumulated in the past, extract design knowledge, and save it in the form of a document. Can provide useful information.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the "software design field" has been described as an example. However, the knowledge acquisition method of the present invention employs a design field for describing design information of functional design and detailed design in a block diagram format. For example, it can be widely applied to acquisition of design knowledge in integrated digital circuit design, plant system design, and the like.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a knowledge acquisition device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a flow of a process of extracting design knowledge from a design example by an arithmetic processing device in a knowledge acquisition device according to the present invention and acquiring the design knowledge in the form of if-then type rules.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a detailed flow of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a target range and corresponding element selection results of a functional diagram in the first, third, and fourth steps of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a result of selecting a target range and a corresponding element of the detailed view in the second, third, and fourth steps of FIG. 3;

6 is a diagram showing a data structure of a functional diagram and a detailed diagram, and a data example of a detailed diagram of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a detailed example of a process of verifying consistency between elements between the functional diagram and the detailed diagram in the fifth step of FIG. 3;

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a detailed example of a determination process of a logic detailing operation in a sixth step of FIG. 3;

FIG. 9 is a view showing a detailed example of a process of creating a conclusion part of knowledge in an eighth step of FIG. 3;

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a detailed example of a process of determining a logic detailing operation in a ninth step of FIG. 3;

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a detailed example of processing for creating a conclusion part of knowledge in the eleventh step of FIG. 3;

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a detailed example of a determination process of a logic detailing operation in a twelfth step of FIG. 3;

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a detailed example of a process of creating a conclusion part of knowledge in a fourteenth step of FIG. 3;

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a detailed example of a process of creating a condition part of knowledge in a fifteenth step of FIG. 3;

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a detailed example of a condition part editing process in the sixteenth step of FIG. 3;

FIG. 16 is a view showing an example of the expression of a knowledge conclusion part in an eighth step of FIG. 3;

FIG. 17 is a view showing an example of an expression of a knowledge conclusion part in an eleventh step of FIG. 3;

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of a representation of a knowledge conclusion part in a fourteenth step of FIG. 3;

FIG. 19 is a template S extracted from FIGS. 4 and 5;

FIG. 20 is an initial plan (design example) of knowledge displayed by the table data editing tool.

FIG. 21 shows a condition part of knowledge modified and selected by the user.

FIG. 22 is an if-then type rule created from FIG.

FIG. 23 is a list of complementary operations.

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing an example of an application example of design knowledge.

FIG. 25 is a diagram showing an example of verification of design knowledge consistency.

[Explanation of symbols]

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 display device 2 image display device 3 image data storage device 4 input device 5 arithmetic processing device 6
Drawing storage device, 7 ... Knowledge storage device.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G06F 17/50 604 G06F 9/44 580 JICST file (JOIS)

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. A drawing storage device for storing a design case as drawing data having connection information and attribute information of elements of the drawing, wherein the design case is read from the drawing storage device into an arithmetic processing unit and displayed on a display device. In the drawing data of the displayed design example, the design data extraction range is specified on the display screen by the input device, and based on the drawing elements in the extraction range specified by the arithmetic processing device, the connection information, and the attribute information. , The conclusion part of the design knowledge is created by a preset conclusion part pattern, the data about the condition part of the design knowledge is further created and displayed on the display device, and the edited contents of the data about the displayed condition part are edited. A knowledge acquisition for inputting the condition part from the input device to the arithmetic processing unit and editing the condition part, and storing the condition part and the conclusion part of the edited design knowledge in the knowledge storage device. Method. 2. The knowledge acquisition method according to claim 1 , wherein the display of the design example includes displaying the elements of the drawing, connection information, and attribute information. 3. The knowledge acquisition method according to claim 1 , wherein the connection information and the attribute information of the drawing elements in the design knowledge extraction range are displayed as data on the condition part of the design knowledge. 4. A drawing storage device for storing a design case as drawing data having connection information and attribute information of elements of the drawing, a knowledge storage device for storing design knowledge of the design case, a data input device, and an arithmetic processing An apparatus, wherein the design case is read from the drawing storage device, a data input unit, and drawing elements and connection information of a drawing range of design knowledge in drawing data of the read design case specified by the data input device, and Based on the attribute information, a conclusion part of the design knowledge is created by a pre-stored conclusion part pattern, data of a condition part of the design knowledge is created, and data of the condition part is edited from the data input device. An operation unit for inputting the contents and editing the condition part, and storing the condition part and the conclusion part of the edited design knowledge in the knowledge storage device An arithmetic processing unit having a data output unit; 5. A drawing storage device for storing a design case as drawing data having connection information and attribute information of elements of the drawing, a knowledge storage device for storing design knowledge of the design case, a data input device, and a data input device. A display device, an arithmetic processing device, and a data input unit that reads the design case from the drawing storage device; and a drawing element of a design knowledge extraction range in the drawing data of the design case specified by the data input device. Based on the connection information and the attribute information, a conclusion part of the design knowledge is created by a pre-stored conclusion part pattern, and further data about the condition part of the design knowledge is created. An operation unit for inputting the contents of the editing of the data and editing the condition part; drawing data of the design case and data on the condition part And a processing unit having a data output unit for storing the edited design knowledge condition part and the conclusion part in a knowledge storage device.