Information model

Information modeling is critical to the integration of conceptual design and process planning. An information model for conceptual design is provided in this paper. Conceptual design is a key activity in early product development. It determines product functions, form, and the basic structure. Major manufacturing cost is committed in early conceptual design process. The model presented in this paper includes activity model for the conceptual design process and object model for classes used in conceptual design. The activity model sets the context in which the objects are defined and used. The object model describes the data and functions used in conceptual design and integration with process planning. The main purpose of the model development is to initiate standard interface specifications that are necessary for design and process planning integration.

In early design phases an effective information exchange among CAD (Computer Aided Design) tools depends on a standardized representation for the product data in all PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) tools. The NIST Core Product Model (CPM) and its extension are proposed to provide the required base-level product model that is open, non-proprietary, generic, extensible, independent of any one product development process and capable of capturing the full engineering context commonly shared in product development [1,2]. The Open Assembly Model (OAM) Model extends CPM to provide a standard representation and exchange protocol for assembly. The assembly information model emphasizes the nature and information requirements for part features and assembly relationships. The model includes both assembly as a concept and assembly as a data structure. For the latter it uses the model data structures of ISO 10303, informally known as the Standard for the Exchange of Product model data (STEP)[3...

A standardized representation of engineering function has been developed, consisting of schemata for functions and associated flows along with taxonomies of generic functions and flows. This paper presents a mapping of this representation into the Extensible Markup Language (XML), a language similar in appearance to HTML but which allows the development of user-defined tags, various kinds of references, and other mechanisms. The formal representation provides the means for representing functions that have multiple input and output flows, properties and parameters associated with these flows, and the decomposition of functions into subfunctions each potentially having its own distinct flows. This mapping has been developed in order to support representation of artifact function models in software systems, as well as to provide a neutral format for exchange of function-based information among software systems.

This paper proposes a standardized representation of function for use by the research community, industry, and eventually commercial software vendors. This includes schemata (information models) for representation of function and associated flows, as well as an initial attempt at developing taxonomies of functions and flows. The objective of the latter effort is to generate taxonomies that are as small as possible, yet generic enough to allow modeling of a broad variety of engineering artifacts. This representation is intended to provide a generic infrastructure that will facilitate the capture and exchange of function information among researchers at present, and eventually in industry by contributing to interoperability between design systems, be they commercial or developed internally within a company.

This report presents a revised and unified view of the NIST Core Product Model (CPM) [1; 2] and the NIST Open Assembly Model (OAM) . The CPM provides a base-level product model that is not tied to any vendor software; open; non-proprietary; simple; generic; expandable; independent of any one product development process; and capable of capturing the engineering context that is shared throughout the product lifecycle. The OAM represents the function, form, and behavior of assemblies and defines both a system level conceptual model and the associated hierarchical relationships. The model provides a way for supporting tolerance representation and propagation, representation of kinematics, and engineering analysis at the system level. The objectives of the report are: (1) to report on the revisions and extensions of the two models since their initial documentation; (2) to link the two models more explicitly than was done before; (3) to present the revised CPM/OAM as the basis, or organizing principle, of a product information-modeling framework that can support the full range of Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) information needs about a product; A case study illustrates the use of the CPM and OAM models to capture information during various design phases.

The important issue of mechanical assemblies has been a subject of intense research over the past several years. Most electromechanical products are assemblies of several components, for various technical as well as economic reasons. This paper provides an object-oriented definition of an assembly model called the Open Assembly Model (OAM) and defines an extension to the NIST Core Product Model (NIST-CPM). The assembly model represents the function, form, and behavior of the assembly and defines both a system level conceptual model and associated hierarchical relationships. The model provides a way for tolerance representation and propagation, kinematics representation, and engineering analysis at the system level. The assembly model is open so as to enable plug-and-play with various applications, such as analysis (FEM, tolerance, assembly), process planning, and virtual assembly (using VR techniques). With the advent of the Internet more and more products are designed and manufactured globally in a distributed and collaborative environment. The class structure defined in OAM can be used by designers to collaborate in such an environment. The proposed model includes both assembly as a concept and assembly as a data structure. For the latter it uses STEP. The OAM together with CPM can be used to capture the assembly evolution from the conceptual to the detailed design stages. It is expected that the proposed OAM will enhance the assembly information content in the STEP standard. A case study example is discussed to explain the Usecase analysis of the assembly model.

We propose a Core Product Model (CPM) for modeling product information suitable for supporting the information needs of Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) systems over the lifecycle of the product from the earliest ideation to manufacturing, operation and disposal. We make this claim because in CPM a product is modeled as a triad of its function (what it is intended to do), its form (what is its shape and material) and its behavior (how it implements its function). Early pre-design activities can thus deal with the function without having a geometric model of the form, and activities subsequent to design can extend the behavior by the evaluation of multiple causal models (e.g., what is the product's market share). The components of the conceptual model of CPM are presented in terms of the product's function, form and behavior, as well as the decompositions, associations and various kinds of relationships among these concepts. The model is represented in UML so as to provide interoperability with other models. An implementation model in XML and an example are presented to illustrate the principal elements of the proposed CPM model.

This paper presents a description of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Design/Process Planning Integration (DPPI) Project, which addresses the need for improving communications between design and process planning activities. Specifically, we focus on the early phases of design and our efforts to link conceptual design ideas to corresponding ones in process planning. After describing the project goals and the mechanisms to achieve those goals, we review representative Computer-Aided Design (CAD) and Computer-Aided Process Planning (CAPP) software tools. The review reveals the lack of available design and process planning tool integration, especially at the conceptual level. To begin our development of an information model suitable for integrating design and process planning knowledge, we developed a prototype conceptual design of a planetary gearbox. At the conceptual level, we associate several design issues with process planning ones and show that these issues can be related in a meaningful way, even at the conceptual level. We conclude that developing associations between design and process planning is meaningful and can be integrated to improve the way engineers design products.

Evolutionary history of Mammalia provides strong evidence that the morphology of skull and brain change jointly in evolution. Formation and development of brain and skull co-occur and are dependent upon a series of morphogenetic and patterning processes driven by genes and their regulatory programs. Our current concept of skull and brain as separate tissues results in distinct analyses of these tissues by most researchers. In this study, we use 3D computed tomography and magnetic resonance images of pediatric individuals diagnosed with premature closure of cranial sutures (craniosynostosis) to investigate phenotypic relationships between the brain and skull. It has been demonstrated previously that the skull and brain acquire characteristic dysmorphologies in isolated craniosynostosis, but relatively little is known of the developmental interactions that produce these anomalies. Our comparative analysis of phenotypic integration of brain and skull in premature closure of the sagittal and the right coronal sutures demonstrates that brain and skull are strongly integrated and that the significant differences in patterns of association do not occur local to the prematurely closed suture. We posit that the current focus on the suture as the basis for this condition may identify a proximate, but not the ultimate cause for these conditions. Given that premature suture closure reduces the number of cranial bones, and that a persistent loss of skull bones is demonstrated over the approximately 150 million years of synapsid evolution, craniosynostosis may serve as an informative model for evolution of the mammalian skull. Although it is commonly recognized that the morphological relationship, or "fit," between skull and brain is precise and absolute across mammals, these two tissues are normally

According to a leading rationalist explanation, war can break out when a large, rapid shift of power causes a credible commitment problem. This mechanism does not specify how inefficient fighting can resolve this cause, so it is an incomplete explanation of war. We present a complete information model of war as a sequence of battles and show that although opportunities for a negotiated settlement arise throughout, the very desirability of peace creates a commitment problem that undermines its likelihood. Because players have incentives to settle as soon as possible, they cannot credibly threaten to fight long enough if an opponent launches a surprise attack. This decreases the expected duration and costs of war and causes mutual deterrence to fail. Fighting's destructiveness improves the credibility of these threats by decreasing the benefits from continuing the war and can eventually lead to peace. In equilibrium players can only terminate war at specific windows of opportunity...

In this paper a reference model for sharing product information in a concurrent engineering environment and suitable for virtual prototyping is presented. The model, called Feature Kernel Model, is feature oriented. It is able to support different functional viewpoints, i.e. different application dependent sets of features, and propagation of modifications from one view to another one, thus, allowing different experts to work simultaneously on the product definition and analysis.

As Electronic Healthcare Records become more prevalent, there is an increasing need to ensure unambiguous data capture, interpretation, and exchange within and across heterogeneous applications. To address this need, a common, uniform, and comprehensive approach for representing clinical information is essential. At Partners HealthCare System, we are investigating the development and implementation of enterprise-wide information models to specify the representation of clinical information to support semantic interoperability. This paper summarizes our early experiences in: (1) defining a process for information model development, (2) reviewing and comparing existing healthcare information models, (3) identifying requirements for representation of laboratory and clinical observations, and (4) exploring linkages to existing terminology and data standards. These initial findings provide insight to the various challenges ahead and guidance on next steps for adoption of information model...

The tutorial first addresses requirements and semantic problems to integrate digital information into large scale, meaningful networks of knowledge that support not only access to source documents but also use and reuse of integrated information. The pros and cons of developing global ontologies are discussed. It is argued that core ontologies of relationships are fundamental to schema integration and play a completely different role to that of specialist terminologies in practical knowledge management. The CIDOC Conceptual Reference Model (CRM) is presented as an example of such a global model. It is a core ontology and new ISO standard (ISO 21127, accepted September 2006), originally designed for the semantic integration of information from museums, libraries, and archives. It is a product of re-engineering the dominant underlying common concepts from representative data structures. It is not prescriptive, but provides a controlled language to describe common high-level semantics ...

Users of the Future Internet will expect seamless and secure access to virtual resources distributed across multiple domains. These federated platforms are the core of the Future Internet. It is clear that information models, and concrete implementation in data models, are necessary prerequisites for all federative operations, information exchanges, and service support. This position paper describes our approach to the development of an information model for federating virtual infrastructures. Our basic assumption is that semantic resource descriptions with context-awareness, in the form of Semantic Web descriptions, better support services in federated platforms. We use our experiences in the development of two ontologies for computer networks and for network monitoring, NDL and MOMENT, to support and guide our development. The requirements of our envisaged Information and Data models are driven from a concrete usecase, using PlanetLab and FEDERICA as examples of virtualized platforms in a Future Internet federated environment.

This paper presents an approach to the integrated development of a configurable product as a support tool to the designer during the product development process. To realize the integrated development of the configurable product, an information model of the configuration system is extended with an information model for the geometric representation of the product assembly in the CAD system. The objective of the extension is that a structure of the product variant is automatically created as a Feature Based Design CAD model. ...

The exchange of information between the different organisations and individuals involved in the different stages of a building's life cycle has always been an important, but at the same time a difficult task. A vast number of participants with different views of the same physical structure have to interact and exchange information through the whole building life cycle. In order to find remedies to the current problems, in particular in CAD data exchange, the product modelling and information exchange standards community have developed several high level representations of buildings (known as Building Information Models -BIMs) in order to enable a more coherent exchange of data. Recently the Industry Foundation Classes (IFC), with a considerable number of software implementations, have emerged as the leading solution candidate. But soon after the first implementations doubts have been raised whether claimed IFC specification compliance by a software product insures a sufficient level of interoperability in practical data exchange. In the presented research work the interoperability performance of three widely used IFC compatible architectural design applications has been evaluated. Tests with file based geometry exchange confirmed our anticipations that the IFC interfaces did not work as expected. The tests demonstrated through illustrative (simple and complex) examples revealed several cases of information distortion and/or information loss both on the entity and attribute level. Unsatisfying model handling proved to be characteristic of all the tested exchange scenarios. Our conclusion is that in the future more effort should be put into the IFC interface development.

There has been a considerable time lag between the emergence of visionary expectations of BIM's (Building Information Models) transformative potential in the architecture, engineering and construction industry, and the deployment of the technology in the industry's daily practice. By viewing adoption and use of BIM as the inter-linkage of actors forming a building and construction project, the aim of the paper is to uncover mechanisms facilitating and constraining the creation of actor networks in which BIM is adopted and used. The aim is pursued by a case study in a major Swedish construction company. It is concluded that the possibility of incremental implementation of BIM applications is well aligned with the character of the industrial context. But the context can also constrain the use of applications requiring more long term thinking. However, because of the disruptive nature of building and construction projects, the challenge is to maintain and re-establish the network in which BIM is used in consecutive projects. When clients and regulating bodies recognize benefits from BIM usage, the main obstacle created by these characteristics of the industry will diminish.

This paper presents an infrastructure to support the dynamic sharing of information across a range of cooperative environments. The infrastructure builds upon the use of shared common spaces by using a distributed tuple space to provide information sharing at its base level. The platform extends existing considerations of tuple spaces by adding mechanisms to provide active support for sharing data elements. The use of a tuple space moves away from previous models of distribution in cooperative systems that focus on the propagation of events to focus on active data sharing. The use of data tuples allows the sharing of information to be independent of the information model allowing a wide range of applications and environments to be supported. The paper presents the infrastructure and shows how it can be used to support information sharing across a number of different forms of cooperative system and application.

Construction is a key industry that significantly contributes to the global gross domestic product and generates substantial revenues. However, it faces challenges such as errors and high costs. The aim of this study is to demonstrate the methodology of applying building information modeling integration for the design, fabrication, and erection of steel buildings, called BIM-DFE, in a real-world scenario. This is the first study in which this methodology is applied in an actual case. Two steel building projects with similar design typologies were selected. The first project was executed using computer-aided design and traditional BIM techniques during the planning, design, and fabrication phases. The BIM-DFE methodology was applied to the same phases in the second project. The results of the two projects were compared quantitatively. The experiments suggest that the application of the BIM-DFE methodology reduced the development time in the planning phase, incorporated manufacturing ...

Policy makers in different parts of the world are paying more attention to environmental markets (i.e., tradeable permits markets) as an alternative to the traditional command-and-command control approach of setting uniform emission and technology standards. I extend the basic (perfect information) model of a permits market to accommodate for practical considerations including regulator's asymmetric information on firms' costs, uncertainty on benefits from pollution control, incomplete enforcement, incomplete monitoring of emissions and the possibility of voluntary participation of non-affected sources. Implications for instrument design and implementation are provided. Las personas encargadas de diseñar y/o implementar políticas públicas en diferentes partes del mundo están prestando cada vez más atención al tema de los "mercados ambientales" (i.e., mercados de permisos de contaminación negociables) como una alternativa al enfoque tradicional de fijar cuotas uniformes de emisión y estándares tecnológicos. Este artículo extiende el modelo básico (información completa) de un mercado de permisos para adecuarlo a varias consideraciones prácticas, incluyendo asimetrías de información del regulador sobre los costos de las firmas, incertidumbre sobre los beneficios del control de la contaminación, implementación incompleta, monitoreo incompleto de las emisiones y la posibilidad de participación voluntaria de fuentes no afectadas. Se muestran además las implicaciones del diseño e implementación de los instrumentos.

Policy makers in different parts of the world are paying more attention to environmental markets (i.e., tradeable emission permits markets) as an alternative to the traditional command-and-command control approach of setting uniform emission and technology standards. I extend the basic (perfect information) model of a permits market to accommodate for practical considerations including regulator’s asymmetric information on firms’ costs, uncertainty on benefits from pollution control, incomplete enforcement, incomplete monitoring of emissions and the possibility of voluntary participation of non-affected sources. Implications for instrument design and implementation are provided.

This display sketches one element of the Digital Youth Network, a program aimed at producing digitally literate youth. The practices of program leaders blend those of mentoring and teaching. Despite the potential conflict between these roles, program leaders structure activities to support role transitions. The management of youth behavior within this structure supports the successful transition. This design creates a complex learning space where informal and formal learning simultaneously occurs. The Digital Clubhouse, one of the earliest models for digital literacy learning, imagined an informal space where youths interact with technologies under the guidance of adult mentors (Center for Children & Technology (CCT), 2001). Evaluations of this model value adult skills but speculate pedagogical knowledge would increase learning outcomes (CCT, 2001). The Digital Youth Network (DYN) follows this advice by creating a space that blends formal and informal learning. The following poster explores how adults negotiate this hybrid space. Initial evidence suggests DYN leaders organize events in a way that draws upon teaching practices at the opening and closing of sessions and mentoring practices in the middle. Language is key in signaling these shifts to youths. This design produces a space geared toward providing the benefits of formal and informal learning. Multiple definitions of informal learning exist . In contrast, formal learning occurs within schools where a knowledge authority selects strategies and tools for instruction. Intentionality and structures differentiate the two . DYN exists in a formal school setting but the space it fashions straddles formal and informal models. DYN leaders, therefore, act both as formal learning leaders, i.e., teachers, and as informal ones, i.e., mentors. These roles, however, are not uniformly compatible. Teachers occupy a well-defined role of knowledge holder, which places them in a dominant relation to students Larkin, 1973; Meyer & Rowan, 1974;. In contrast, reciprocity characterizes the tie between mentor and protégé . Substantively, this means teachers profess some knowledge set; whereas, mentors respond to youth interest and share knowledge on this basis. This analysis sits in a larger research project examining the program's impact on digital media literacy. DYN started in Old Orchard Middle School, a technology-focused school in Chicago. The school serves about 140 middle-to-low income students who are mostly African American, aged 11 to 14 years. The program reaches all learners through a series of required media arts courses that expose students to a breadth of skills. After school sessions allow students to develop skill depth by concentrating on a particular medium. DYN leaders attend weekly professional development sessions that provide pedagogical content and general knowledge used to inform instruction. For more information about the program visit . Participant observations comprise the data set for this analysis. This work focuses on the practice of three leaders -Marlowe, Anthony and Jeff. Field notes served as the basis for the coding schema (e.g., and relate to DYN leaders' practice including instructional delivery, assessment of participant work, and collaboration with youths. Time organizes role performances. The progression of events in DYN sessions resembles most American classrooms with the instruction of new material, guided and independent practice, and closing. Leaders adopt roles associated with teaching in the opening and closing phases. Framed by a dry erase board filled with the day's agenda, checklists, and resources, DYN leaders face students to dictate session objectives. For example, Jeff, the leader of the introductory media arts session, said, "This semester we're going to work on marketing our label… We're going to use ou[r] web site to help us with this…" Adults establish the order of events. Youths accept these assertions without question. Youths also accept the new material DYN leaders presented. DYN leaders authoritative edge over participants continues through guided practice. Anthony, who leads film production sessions, explained the use of themes and symbols and asked students to identify them in three public service announcements. As students did this he corrected student understanding. The leaders' request for knowledge aligns with a role more closely associated with oversight than collaboration. Questioning during these phases also demonstrates power differentials between the adult and youth. [Marlowe] asked how many beats were in a bar. David raised his hand, Marlowe called on him, and he replied four. [Marlowe] asked the students to drum out a bar. Marlowe called on Andrew who beat out two measures (or bars) of four. Marlowe credited his effort…

An information model has been developed at the Centre for Building Studies, Concordia University to facilitate the management of design changes through inter-disciplinary coordination. The main component in the information model is a central ...

The planning and construction of buildings and structures is based on collaborative building information processes. The information supply of these processes is characterized by the exchange of heterogeneous domain-specific information. For the treatment of most problems in the construction industry, the information involved is rarely considered in isolation, but rather elements from different information models are linked with each other. The concept of the information space has established itself for the persistence of such linked information models. For sustainable building, the continuous use of existing information models or information spaces is indispensable. Various implementation approaches exist for information spaces in civil engineering. One approach that is currently in the initial phase of standardisation and will therefore spread further in the construction industry is the multimodel approach. For large construction projects or more complex buildings, multimodels beco...

This paper presents a system that provides access to a newspaper web site. The system is based on an interaction model, that uses browse and search strategies, and on an information model, which is made up of a tree and indexes. A frame-based approach is used to control the dialog flow. VoiceXML is used as a language to describe dialog turns. The systems works for Spanish language. To measure the usability of the system we evaluated the performance using objective measures and user satisfaction using SASSI questionnaire. The results of the evaluation show a task success rate of 92% and a WER of 18.09%. Overall user satisfaction is positive: users perceive the system as useful and easy to use. We conclude the paper with a discussion of the most relevant issues about the development and evaluation of the system.

At the end of a predesign phase of a building design, it is essential for the consulting firm to be able to generate from the BIM design, take-off quantities and construction activities durations efficiently at a short timeframe to derive the cost budget estimates and schedule for project tendering purpose. However, these efforts require prior construction site experience and knowledge together with their association to the BIM and IFC construction component data to automate a Master Project Schedule. The research and development of the automated master project schedule is the focus of the project which will read IFC data from a BIM application and display the model while the data are distributed to a database repository. The automated project schedule can then be generated with the activities and timeline of each building component presented by floor levels and component types. Finally, the challenges in changes in the construction methods such as precast and/or cast in-situ, and t...

Much work has already been done on how a 3D Cadastre should best be developed. An inclusive information model, the Land Administration Model (LADM ISO 19152) has been developed to provide an international framework for how this can best be done. This conceptual model does not prescribe the technical data format. One existing source from which data could be obtained is 3D Building Information Models (BIMs), or, more specifically in this context, BIMs in the form of one of buildingSMART's open standards: the Industry Foundation Classes (IFC). The research followed a standard BIM methodology of first defining the requirements through the use of the Information Delivery Manual (IDM ISO29481) and then translating the process described in the IDM into technical requirements using a Model View Definition (MVD), a practice to coordinate upfront the multidisciplinary stakeholders of a construction project. The proposed process model illustrated how the time it takes to register 3D spatial units in a Land Registry could substantially be reduced compared to the first 3D registration in the Netherlands. The modelling of an MVD or a subset of the IFC data model helped enable the creation and exchange of boundary representations of topological objects capable of being combined into a 3D legal space overview map.

The cancellation of elective surgeries wastes valuable hospital resources. Our site of research has identified inadequate planning due to lack of information as a main cause for cancellations. It is anticipated that the pre-operative planning process may be improved if adequate patient information is gathered at an earlier stage, before the patient is admitted at the hospital. The aim of our research is to determine how an electronic personal health assessment questionnaire interface to the patient should be designed. Participants were asked to complete the electronic personal health assessment questionnaire in the two versions of the interface. The results indicate that, contrarily to literature, in a pre-operative setting, patients prefer to be presented various questions at a time when completing personal health assessment questionnaires. Keywords-cancellations; surgery department; electronic communication; electronic health record; patient interfaces.

Large construction clients (companies, public authorities and government departments) perceive the need to facilitate and accelerate adoption of Building Information Modeling (BIM) for their projects because they derive significant benefits from its use for design, construction and operation of their facilities. Preparation of appropriate BIM guidelines that can be mandated through contracts is one of the main steps they can take to promote adoption. With a view to aiding such organizations to compile comprehensive guideline documents, we present a qualitative content analysis of fifteen BIM guideline, standard and protocol documents published to date, identifying both common features and missing aspects. While the main topics covered are similar across all the standards and guides -interoperability, collaboration modes, BIM execution plan, simulation & analysis, BIM manager's role and operation & maintenance requirements -their content, specificity, frequency and level of resolution are different. The category and topic analysis led to derivation of a set of essential requirements. Recommendations are provided to help organizations/governments compile their own documents and establish policies compatible with their specific context and needs.

SNOMED CT (SCT) has been designed and implemented in an era when health computer systems generally required terminology representations in the form of singular precoordinated concepts. Consequently, much of SCT content represents pre-coordinated concepts and their relationships. In this conceptual paper the role of pre-and post-coordinated terminology expressions are considered in the context of the current development direction of Electronic Health Records and the use of communications and knowledge repositories. The move from current SCT structures to an implementation form of SCT that focuses on "atomic concepts" will support post-coordination and terminology binding to information models. This core or "essential" SNOMED CT -called SNOMED Essential Terminology (S-ET) -would be smaller in terms of core concept numbers, simpler, easier to maintain and more intuitive for implementers. Our proposed implementation form of SNOMED CT would contain only "atomic concepts" with their attendant hierarchies and relationship data. These would be supported by a strict model for representing current and future pre-coordinated concepts based on the use of an existing specific post-coordination expression, grammar, or representation. The resulting concept expressions would be postcoordinated from a smaller core of atomic components. Using definitional relationships, the proposed implementation form could equate existing pre-coordinated terms with postcoordinated representations, allowing SCT to maintain links with legacy data. A strategy for testing and implementing this approach is discussed and empirical research and feasibility testing is recommended.

Machine-To-Machine communication (M2M), the network overlay is in progress in several domains such as Smart Grid. Consequently, it is predictable that opportunities and cases of integrating yielded data from devices such as sensors will increase more. Accordingly, the importance of Ontology and Information Models (IM) which normalize the semantics including sensor expressions, have increased, and the standards of these definitions have been more important as well. So far, there have been multiple initiatives for standardizing the Ontology and IM in regards to the sensors expression such as Sensor Standards Harmonization by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), W3C Semantic Sensor Network (SSN) and the recent W3C IoT-Lite Ontology. However, there is still room to improve the current level of the Ontology and IM on the viewpoint of the implementing structure. This paper presents a set of IMs on abstract sensors and contexts in regards to the phenomenon around these sensors from the point of view of a structure implementing these specified sensors. As several previous studies have pointed out, multiple aspects on the sensors should be modeled. Accordingly, multiple sets of Ontology and IM on these sensors should be defined. Our study has intended to clarify the relationship between configurations and physical measured quantities of the structures implementing a set of sensors. Up to present, they have not been generalized and have remained unformulated. Consequently, due to the result of this analysis, it is expected to implement a more generalized translator module easily, which aggregates the measured data from the sensors on the middleware level managing these Ontology and IM, instead of the layer of user application programs.

As product complexity and marketing competition increase, a collaborative product development is necessary for companies which develop high quality products in short lead-times. To support product actors from different fields, disciplines, and locations, wishing to exchange and share information, the representation of the actors' viewpoints is the underlying requirement of the collaborative product development. The actors' viewpoints approach was designed to provide an organisational framework following the actors' perspectives in the collaboration, and their relationships, could be explicitly gathered and formatted. The approach acknowledges the inevitability of multiple integration of product information as different views, promotes gathering of actors' interests, and encourages retrieved adequate information while providing support for integration through PLM and/or SCM collaboration. In this paper, a solution for neutral viewpoints representation is proposed. The product, process, and organisation information models are seriatim discussed. A series of issues referring to the viewpoints representation are discussed in detail. Based on XML standard, taking cyclone vessel as an example, an application case of part of product information modelling is stated.

This paper discusses the application of management domains as a means of specifying and controlling the services a subscriber is entitled to use in an international cellular network. The Pan European Cellular Network is made up of multiple network vendors in different countries offering a variety of services. Domains provide the means of grouping network resources or subscribers in order to specify service access policy. We explain how such a system can be used in a hypothetical environment which permits ...

Mars' north pole is covered by a dome of layered ice deposits. Detailed (∼30 centimeters per pixel) images of this region were obtained with the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). Planum Boreum basal unit scarps reveal cross-bedding and show evidence for recent mass wasting, flow, and debris accumulation. The north polar layers themselves are as thin as 10 centimeters but appear to be covered by a dusty veneer in places, which may obscure thinner layers. Repetition of particular layer types implies that quasi-periodic climate changes influenced the stratigraphic sequence in the polar layered deposits, informing models for recent climate variations on Mars.

As the range of communication services and consumer expectations continue to grow, the demands on telecommunication organizations to find ways to make their systems more adaptable and flexible, while remaining dependable, becomes critical. Autonomic communications is an emerging strategic approach for addressing these needs. This paper discusses the unified fault management architecture and the proposal to add autonomicity through a 'reflex-healing' dual strategy. The autonomic reflex unified fault management architecture has goals in common with the perceived new construct of autonomic communications, the knowledge plane.

In order to manage financial risks online charging of composite services is becoming increasingly important for service providers to support service delivery in inter-domain environments. The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) has developed a framework for off-line and online charging of IMS-based services. At service level, delivery of composite services often involves many service providers, where each service provider is responsible for the delivery of one or more service components (e.g. access service, IMS communication service, content service, etc.). Current Online Charging System (OCS) specified by 3GPPP does not support an online charging function for composite services. This paper discusses a number of implications of online charging of composite services, in particular inter-domain composite services. It addresses important shortcomings of the current 3GPP online charging architecture and suggests a way to overcome these shortcomings. The contribution of this paper is twofold. Firstly, it proposes an information model to support charging of inter-domain composite services. The proposed information model is based on the NGOSS and SID concepts of the TeleManagement Forum. Secondly, it proposes additional functionalities required for existing OCS in IMS to handle online charging of inter-domain composite services.

Interoperability of e-government systems is suggested to increase transparency, efficiency, effectiveness, and customer service in the public sector. Generic data models are often seen as a way for achieving especially semantic interoperability. To assess how the contemporary data models support semantic e-government interoperability, we reviewed literature on data models suggested for the public sector in light of four features: standard modelling language, entity-relationship modelling, vocabulary for data exchange and methodology. The review contributes previous research by introducing a four-feature framework for assessing capability of e-government data models to enhance interoperability and by providing an up-to-date review of the generic data models for this purpose. http://dx.doi.org/10.3233/978-1-61499-429-9-106

Integrating building information modeling (BIM) technology into historical and cultural heritage structures has resulted in historic building information modeling (H-BIM), an effective method for managing and documenting invaluable historical artifacts. H-BIM has the potential to aid with the design, restoration, and maintenance activities of historical buildings by properly integrating parametric data and deliberately assessing semantic information, thus progressing the 3D model’s performance. H-BIM also aims to conduct cultural heritage (CH) studies in a systematic manner by combining 3D modeling techniques and information management. The first step in this process is to conduct a suitable geomatic survey to build accurate 3D models. The most efficient modeling method is to employ 3D point cloud data that are acquired using the terrestrial laser scanning method. This study proposes a manual modeling strategy for urban historical buildings that falls within the scope of the H-BIM m...

The main objective of this review is to summarize and thoroughly investigate the most popular and promising BIM (building information modeling) and BEM (building energy modeling) interoperability strategies employed in the last years (2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012)(2013)(2014)(2015)(2016)(2017)(2018)(2019)(2020)(2021)(2022)(2023), highlighting pros and cons of each strategy and trying to understand the reason for the still limited BIM-BEM interaction. This review summarizes the main countries, areas, modeling tools, and interoperability strategies, with the advantages and disadvantages of each one. The methodology is based on the PRISMA protocol, and two databases were used for the research: Scopus and Google Scholar. A total of 532 publications were selected and 100 papers were deemed useful for the purposes of this review. The main findings led to the identification of four different interoperability strategies between BIM and BEM tools: (1) real-time connection; (2) standardized exchange formats and middleware corrective tools; (3) adherence to model view definitions; (4) proprietary tool-chain. These strategies were found to be characterized by different degrees of complexity, time required for information exchange, proprietary or opensource software, ability to reduce information loss, and detailed energy results. The results of this study showed that, to date, there is no better interoperability strategy, and that further efforts are needed so that interoperability between the two tools can become commonplace.

The Optical Burst Switching (OBS) paradigm proposes a new set of transmission protocols and network architectures that permits the high-utilization of the raw bandwidth available by Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing at a moderate computational cost. Accordingly, it is necessary to extend the management plane of such networks to include the particular aspects of OBS, in order to guarantee the appropriate network operation. This paper analyzes the information required for the management of such OBS networks and proposes a new information model based on observed management use-cases. A simple data model is also specified to reduce the computational burden, but compliant with the modeled information.

Building Information Modelling (BIM) refers to models of geometry of a facility to be designed and built. The goal of the BIM development process is to build an error-free model in an efficient way. The use of Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycles has proven successful for adapting the BIM development process to the needs off the project, thus avoiding rework during development of the model. Integrated modelling of conflicts between building components (often called ‘clashes’), the BIM development process, and the organizational structure of the development team with the Multiple Domain Matrix (MDM) enabled deduction of planned and actual communication flows in the organization. The two perspectives of communication were compared as part of ‘Check’ in the PDCA cycle. Comparison identified problems in the BIM development process, which were the starting point for root cause analysis.

Some significant global problems, such as global warming, depletion of the ozone layer and natural resources depletion, point out that sustainable solutions are critical in the construction sector, as in many other fields. In this context, the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method, which enables the determination of the environmental impacts of buildings, comes to the fore. In addition, due to the negative environmental impacts caused by the building sector, the tools developed to create sustainable designs have started to be used. The Building Information Modelling (BIM) method, which uses these tools and is becoming increasingly important, can produce solutions in different ways in design, construction and use processes from an environmental perspective. The decisions, especially in the early stages of building design, are effective for sustainability goals, and the analysis and simulation functions provided by the BIM help the designers to make sustainable design. In this study, it is aimed to to explore and analyse the potential of using LCA in an early design stage using design tools. It was focused on researching and defining the most important aspects of LCA and BIM through a literature review. Thus, the importance of the decisions taken at the early design stages for sustainable designs and the necessity of innovative methods that the BIM method provides to the designer while making these decisions are revealed. The studies highlight the potential of integrating LCA and BIM to make sustainable design decisions early on also indicate the importance of LCA data, level of development (LoD) of the BIM model, and the knowledge of designers on the topics of LCA and sustainable design.

Eye movements are an external manifestation of selective attention and can play an important role in indicating which attributes of a scene carry the most pertinent information. Models that predict gaze distribution often define a local conspicuity value that relies on low-level image features to indicate the perceived salience of an image region. While such bottom-up models have some success in predicting fixation densities in simple 2D images, success with natural scenes requires an understanding of the goals of the observer, including the perceived usefulness of an object in the context of an explicit or implicit task. In the present study, observers viewed natural images while their eye movements were recorded. Eye movement patterns revealed that subjects preferentially fixated objects relevant for potential actions implied by the gist of the scene, rather than selecting targets based purely on image features. A protoobject map is constructed that is based on highly-textured regions of the image that predict the location of potential objects. This map is used as a mask to inhibit the unimportant low-level features and enhance the important features to constrain the regions of potential interest. The resulting importance map correlates well to subject fixations on natural-task images.