Towards a Generic Model of Configuraton Tasks

A precise def in i t ion is provided for general configurat ion tasks. Two important assumptions are ident i f ied: (i) functional architecture and (ii) key component per funct ion. A domainindependent model is presented based on these assumptions. These assumptions are shown to be both useful and tenable in real domains. They are useful because they l imit the complexity of the general conf igurat ion task, determine the basic knowledge needed for solving a configurat ion task, and enable more efficient problem solving methods. Ideas are presented both for representing the knowledge and control l ing the search. Some of these ideas were originally implemented in the Cossack expert system.