Techniques for Integrating Computer Programs into Design Architectures

Presented at the 6th AIAA/NASA/USAF/ISSMO Symposium on Multidisciplinary Analysis and Optimization, Bellevue, WA, September 4-6, 1996.The benefits of using modular computer architectures for multi-disciplinary design are being explored by industry, government, and academia. These architectures are being validated through a considerable number of in-house and team demonstration projects. Based on experiences to date, a generic computing design architecture consists of the following components: process management, a common product data model, an analysis toolkit, a problem-independent computing backplane, and integration mechanisms. The latter is concerned with the addition of services to computer resources in an analysis toolkit, called wrapping, and is discussed in this paper. Wrapping allows for the collaborative use of resources within a computer architecture. Strategies and consequences of integrating resources from executables to source code are outlined. Benefits associated with using software agents to assist designers in integrating and using software resources in design computing architectures are highlighted