Transport of CAE data: a discourse analysis view

The theorems and terminology of discourse analysis are used to illuminate important issues and clarify areas of controversy associated with the transport of electronic data. This view of data transport reveals that an ATE (automatic test equipment) of CAE (computer-aided engineering) database is never independent of the tools or environment which create and use the data. This lack of independence is shown to compromise the fundamental principles of the traditional implementations of database-centered and three-schema architectures. A consequence is the 'premature geriatric diseases' which commonly degrade such approaches. Solutions based on the lessons learned from discourse analysis are proposed. The importance of performing a deterministic well-defined mapping, i.e. isomorphic mapping, is explained. The use of orthogonal systems, when possible, guarantees that such a mapping can be performed. Netlists are shown to have special attributes which facilitate mapping. An approach to the creation of standards is proposed that constrains the use of nonorthogonal standards, such as computer languages, to express data. Thereby, the transport becomes, or at least approaches, a deterministic well-defined mapping. >