Behavioural modelling for design decomposition and design equations derivation

Analysis of system performance is necessary at various stages of the design process. For this purpose, design equations should be identified or derived, which establish the links between the required performance and the physical structure of the designed system and system inputs/outputs. There has been no generic methodology for the derivation of design equations at the early design stage. In this paper, we present a behavioural modelling methodology to address the problem. It is achieved by modelling the system behaviours as one or more behavioural processes, and deriving design equations from each individual behaviour of the process. To simplify the task as well as those subsequent design tasks, we also discuss the issue of performance analysis oriented design decomposition. This is achieved by developing two design hierarchies with established links between them. An algorithm for automatic design decomposition is subsequently proposed. This algorithm is applicable both before and after the derivation of design equations. Finally, a design case is also studied to illustrate and demonstrate the proposed methodologies.