Development of a Distributed Design Toolkit for Analyzing Process Architectures

The distribution of a complex system design problem into smaller, coupled subsystem problems creates a number of research and implementation challenges, including determining the most appropriate process architecture. Here the term process architecture refers to the order in which design subsystems solve their individual optimization problem. While methods have been proposed to model specific distributed process architectures, analyzing the impact of a wide range of process architectures on solution quality, convergence, and stability still remains a difficult task. To address this, we introduce a toolkit that enables the modeling and analysis of distributed design process architectures using basic sequential, parallel, and hybrid elements. Features of the toolkit are described and its use in studying solution characteristics including quality, convergence, and stability is discussed. The toolkit allows for users to create and analyze possible processes architectures using graphical interfaces.