baker@csl.dl.nec.com (Larry Baker) (04/17/91)
I don't remember if I posted this previously, or what, but I'm posting it again, since the train of postings seems to warrant it. You *can* embed "AI" (or Knowledge-Based Systems, really) in a "hard" real-time application. Take a look at the following article: "Real-Time Data Acquisition at Mission Control," Muratore, Heindel, Murphy, Rasmussen and McFarland, CACM December 1990, v33, no. 12, p. 19. I don't want to start a religious war about KBS vs. AI. Their technique is applicable to either domain. It's worth pointing out, though, that the KBS/AI application is, in their approach, a "soft" real-time application, with a predicted latency varying between 1-3 seconds. The data-collection and conditioning subsystem is the "hard" application, with a required latency of no more than 1/4 second to clear telemetry data buffers. The point is that if you can dissect your system into "hard" and "soft" real-time subsystems, and keep the AI in the "soft" part of the system, then you're OK; if you have hard real-time requirements that cannot fit within the latency predictions for the AI environment, then you're sunk. At least until next generation of embedable hardware is available ;-). -- Larry Baker NEC America C&C Software Laboratories, Irving (near Dallas), TX baker@texas.csl.dl.nec.com cs.utexas.edu!necssd!baker