A concurrent engineering-based methodology for communication network design in a CIM environment

This research describes a Concurrent Engineering-based methodology for developing and evaluating the overall system design for a communication network in a Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) environment. The architecture and performance of communication networks in a CIM system are crucial to the efficient and reliable operation of an integrated design and manufacturing process. The proposed methodology will facilitate the effective integration of the functions and the related computers and equipment involved in a CIM system by providing a reliable and replicable procedure for the conceptual design of the communication network.;Artificial Intelligence and Operations Research technologies are integrated into an effective methodology. A knowledge-based expert system is utilized to choose the communication network architecture depending upon the production and information requirements of the particular CIM application. Then, a rapid simulation model is constructed to evaluate the performance of the system using the network attributes specified by the expert system. Since manufacturing operations can consist of several networks, the expert system also suggests the global network topology for efficiently interconnected networks in a manufacturing operation, considering network reliability for network fault tolerance. Finally the expert system recommends the optimal routing path which provides the best collection of paths between each source and destination pair, given the network traffic requirements and configuration.;The proposed design methodology was tested and validated by using data from the DemMaTec facility. It provides a robust and systematic design procedure to facilitate the smooth implementation of communication networks.