A Functional Model of Agenda Management |

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Following is a hierarchical list of the activities -- which
are themselves functions -- of Agenda Management. Each activity
is represented by an IDEF0 node identifier, consisting of the
letter 'A' (for Activity) and a sequence of digits coding subordination
relationships (e.g., A12 is the second sub-activity of activity
A1). The identifier is followed by the name of the activity (a
verb phrase). Each identifier is linked to a short definition.
Definitions are linked to their IDEF0 nodes (diagrams). The activities
in boldface define the functional requirements
of the AgendaManager: these are activities that the AgendaManager
must perform or assist the flightcrew in performing.
A-0 and A0 perform flightdeck activities
- A1 manage agendas
- A11 manage individual agendas
- A111 manage goals .
- A112 manage functions
- A1121 activate/deactivate functions
- A1122 assess function status
- A1123 prioritize functions
- A1124 identify function faults
- A113 assign actors to functions
- A1131 identify feasible assignments
- A1132 evaluate feasible assignments
- A1133 select assignments
- A1134 identify assignment faults
- A114 allocate resources to functions
- A1141 identify feasible allocations
- A1142 evaluate feasible allocations
- A1143 select allocations
- A1144 identify allocation faults
- A12 share agenda information
- A2 perform other functions
- A21 coordinate actors
- A22 assess function
- A23 maintain situation models
- A231 determine information requirements
- A232 acquire situation information
- A233 integrate situation information
- A2331 update existing situation
- A2332 add new situation information
- A2333 project situation models
- A2334 identify situation model
- A234 share situation information
- A24 decide/plan
- A25 act
A-0 and A0 perform flightdeck activities Perform the activities
of operating a commercial transport aircraft from its flightdeck.
These activities are performed by human actors (flightcrew) and
machine actors (flightdeck automation) using flightdeck resources
(displays, sensors, controls, actuators, radios, and other non-'intelligent'
devices). The actors comprise a single, integrated cognitive system.
- A1 manage agendas Manage the agendas of all actors.
- A11 manage individual agendas Manage the agenda of
each individual actor. Each actor manages his/her/its own agenda
and these agendas may or may not be consistent.
- A111 manage goals Recognize, infer, activate, and terminate
goals. Prioritize active goals. This must be coordinated with
the goal management of other actors through shared agenda information.
- A1111 infer goals Infer the other actors' goals from
actor and other system state information in the situation models:
"What are the other actors' goals that they have not explicitly
declared?"
- A1112 assess goals Determine what goals should be pursued.
Initially, this is just the mission goal, which is decomposed
into subgoals. But at any given time, this activity involves adding
goals inferred from other actors and this actor's newly derived
goals to the set of current (pre-existing) goals, then assessing
each to determine if it is pending, active, or terminated: "What
should we be getting ready to do? What should we be doing now?
What can we forget about?"
- A1113 prioritize goals Rank the goals based on the
importance of and urgency of each goal. A goal has high importance
if it's achievement is a necessary condition for achieving the
mission goal. It has high urgency if it must be achieved soon.
"What is most important? What is most urgent? What is most
worthy of our attention right now?"
- A1114 identify goal faults Identify any goal problems,
such as erroneous or conflicting goals: "Are our goals appropriate
and are we in agreement about them?"
- A112 manage functions Initiate, assess, prioritize,
and terminate functions to achieve goals. This must be coordinated
with the function management of other actors through shared agenda
information.
- A1121 activate/deactivate functions Based on the active
goals, determine what functions should be performed now: "Are
we actually doing what we should be doing?"
- A1122 assess function status Determine how well each
function is being performed, with respect to achieving the goal,
based on accuracy, speed, and other factors. As well as considering
the current state of affairs, look ahead. In addition to using
global information, use specific status information derived in
the process of performing each function. "How well are we
doing now? Are things likely to get better, worse, or stay the
same? Is it likely that we will achieve the goals?"
- A1123 prioritize functions For each function, determine
its priority, based on its goal's priority, its status, and its
momentum (i.e., functions nearly completed have a greater momentum
than do functions just begun). "What should we be doing right
now?"
- A1124 identify function faults Identify any problems
with the current functions, such as inappropriate functions, misprioritized
functions, or discrepancies about functions: "Are we in agreement
about what we should be doing right now and how well we're doing?"
- A113 assign actors to functions Decide which actors
are to perform each function. This must be coordinated with the
actor assignments of other actors through shared agenda information.
- A1131 identify feasible assignments Identify different ways
that actors could be feasibly assigned to perform functions: "How
could we assign actors to functions?"
- A1132 evaluate feasible assignments Evaluate the different
ways actors could be assigned to functions: "What are the
advantages and disadvantages of particular actor assignments?
- A1133 select assignments Select the best actor assignments:
"What are the best assignments?"
- A1134 identify assignment faults Identify problems with the
assignments, such as inappropriate assignments and inconsistencies
between actors: "Do we agree on the correct actor assignments?"
- A114 allocate resources to functions Decide what resources
are to be used to perform each function. This must be coordinated
with the resource allocations of other actors through shared agenda
information.
- A1141 identify feasible allocations Identify the feasible
ways in which resources could be assigned to functions: "How
could we allocate resources to functions?"
- A1142 evaluate feasible allocations Rate the different feasible
allocations: "What are the advantages and disadvantages of
different resource allocations?"
- A1143 select allocations Select the best resource allocation:
"What are the best resource allocations?"
- A1144 identify allocation faults Identify any problems with
the resource allocations, such as inappropriate allocations or
inconsistencies between actors: "Do we agree on the best
resource allocations?"
- A12 share agenda information Communicate information
(overtly and covertly) about agendas among the actors. It is only
through sharing agenda information that the individual agendas
can approach consistency.
- A2 perform other functions Perform
specific functions (other than managing agendas) to achieve the
mission goal and its subgoals. These can include monitoring aircraft
subsystems, changing the state of the aircraft and its subsystems
by manipulating controls, decision making, problem solving, and
planning, which yields additional (derived) goals to accomplish.
Performing such functions involves maintaining situation models.
- A21 coordinate actors Coordinate the activities
of the actors assigned to perform the function. Decide what roles
and responsibilities each actor will have in performing the function.
- A22 assess function Assess the status
of this function: how well it is being performed, what the future
prospects look like, and the likelihood that the goal will be
achieved.
- A23 maintain situation models Update
and exercise each actor's situation model. Each actor has an internal
representation of the current state of the world and at least
human actors can project their models into the future. Maintenance
of these models is driven by the need for performing specific
functions.
- A231 determine information requirements
Determine what information is needed to perform this function.
- A232 acquire situation information
Obtain information from the environment, the aircraft, and other
actors.
- A233 integrate situation information
Integrate new situation information and information about from
other actors' situation models into the current situation models.
- A2331 update existing situation
information Use new information about the various systems to update
their states in the situation models.
- A2332 add new situation information
Add other information (not just updates) to the situation models.
- A2333 project situation models
Use possible courses of action to project the current situation
into the future, yielding one or more possible scenarios.
- A2334 identify situation model
faults Identify problems with the situation models, such as inaccuracies,
omissions, and inconsistencies.
- A234 share situation information
Communicate about the actors' situation models.
- A24 decide/plan Decide on what actions to
perform immediately to achieve the goal, or plan what to do in
the future. Planning may yield subgoals derived from the goal.
These will be added to the actors' agendas.
- A25 act Perform the actions necessary to
achieve the goal. These may include control manipulations, utterances,
etc.