Design dependency analysis

Besides functional and behavior dependencies as discussed in the previous sections, engineers have to account for design dependencies. For example, a geometrical dependency between two components that have to fit within a predefined space.

The ESL compiler derives design dependencies from design and relations specifications. Figure 1 shows for example an MDM containing components, variables, design specifications, a relation, and a need.

The component DSM (rows 1-2, cols 1-2) shows a design dependency between pump and drive-mechanism. This dependency is derived from design specification dc-drive-length that states that drive-length and pump-length must be equal.

Figure 1: Component-variable-design-spec-relation spec-need multi-domain matrix showing design dependencies at the first decomposition level.

Design specification dc-drive-length yields a design dependency between the variables drive-length and pump-length as well. This dependency is shown within the variable DSM (rows 3-8, cols 3-8).

Within the variable DSM one can see an additional dependency between power-potential and power. This dependency is derived from relation specification efficiency-model (row 11).