Database support for engineering CAD and simulation

An integrated database architecture is presented to support the diverse requirements of a CAD environment. The resulting CAD system consists of a design representation database, an existing-design database, and a parts catalog database. The design representation database stores and manages designs currently being developed. The existing-design database and the parts catalog database serve as suggestion systems. The first suggestion system helps the designer by recommending an existing design that closely satisfies the input specifications. In the second suggestion system, the user provides an incomplete component specification and the system suggests a set of standard components that fit these descriptions. A structure-function CAD modeling paradigm is used to represent designs, to perform simulations, and to let designs evolve over time. The structural information represents the physical or the logical aspects of the design, whereas the functional information represents the behavioral aspects of the design