A conceptual framework for the analysis, classification and choice of knowledge-based diagnosis systems

This paper proposes a framework to analyse, classify and choose knowledge-based applications for diagnosis. It defines a three-dimensional space in which an application may be represented by a point, whose coordinates are defined on each of the 3 axes corresponding to the conceptual, the functional and the phenomenological dimensions of it. Describing the applications according to this framework allows us to easily observe and analyze the similarities and differences among them. The conceptual dimension focuses on the problem solving method, while the functional dimension relates to the way in which causality is represented in the models. Finally, the phenomenological dimension describes the nature of the phenomena to be diagnosed.