Product Data Model for Interoperability in an Distributed Environment

Abstract

This paper belongs to a suite of three interrelated papers. The two others are ‘The VEGA Platform’ (Junge, Koethe, Schulz, Zarli, Bakkeren. this volume) and ‘A Dynamic Product Model’ (Junge, Steinmann, Beetz. this volume) These two companion papers are also based on the VEGA project. The ESPRIT project VEGA (Virtual Enterprises using Groupware tools and distributed Architectures) has the objective to develop IT solutions enabling virtual enterprises, especially in the domain of architectural design and building engineering. VEGA shall give answers to many questions of: what is needed for enabling such virtual enterprise from tht IT side. The questions range from technologies for networks, communication between distributed applications, control, management of information flow to implementation and model architectures to allow distribution of information in the virtual enterprises.

This paper is focused on the product model aspect of VEGA. So far modeling experts have followed a more or less centralized architecture (central or central with ‘satellites’). Is this also the architecture for the envisaged goal? What is the architecture for such a distributed model following the paradigm of modeling the ‘natural human’ way of doing business? What is the architecture enabling most effective the filtering and translation in the communication process. Today there is some experience with ‘bulk data’ of the document exchange type. What is with incremental information (not data) exchange? Incremental on demand only the really needed information not a whole document.

The paper is structured into three parts. First there is description of the modeling history or background. the second a vision of interoperability in an distributed environment from the users coming from architectural design and building engineering view point. Third is a description of work undertaken by the authors in previous project forming the direct basis for the VEGA model. Finally a short description of the VEGA project, especially the VEGA model architecture.