A framework for design and development of real-time IKBS applications

A framework for the design and development of real-time and software fault-tolerant intelligent knowledge-based system (IKBS) is described. It uses an extended notation of structured analysis/structured design (SA/SD) to identify and analyse the requirements, and to arrive at a set of data and control transformations. This set forms the background to identify and describe a set of objects, in the sense of object-oriented programming (OOP), and a set of rules to manipulate these objects in realising the dynamic behaviour of the IKBS application. Thus, it provides a mapping of different concepts of real-time SA/SD onto OOP and IKBS. The framework also identifies two strategies to incorporate software fault tolerance in an object-oriented perspective, and prescribes `progressive reasoning´ to meet the real-time needs of the application. An example application is discussed concerning the cage monitoring system associated with a mine window