A Functional Model of Agenda Management
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This page is under construction and its contents are subject
to change at any time!
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.
Listed below, most recent first, are changes made to this website since its creation.
2 Jun 99
- original page, from The Agenda Management website