Configuration Issues

This list of issues was presented at the end of the AAAI 1996 Fall Symposium Configuration Workshop to stimulate discussion and to serve as a potential list of topics for a future workshop.

What distinguishes Design from Config?

What are the "extreme cases of config?

e.g., Sorting?

Where do config concepts break down?

e.g., where and what are the ports in a pile of blocks?

Are there subclasses of config?

With different sized search spaces?

e.g., use all given components vs. some

e.g., objects with parameters vs. not

e.g., continuous values for parameters vs. discrete

Are the methods we use equivalent in power?

If so, why does it matter what we use?

What kinds of knowledge about a config. domain can we take advantage of?

... to improve Solutions (e.g., for optimality)

... to improve process (i.e., for efficiency)

• (eg. abstractions & taxonomies;
• templates -- association & arrangement)

How much, and when, do user concerns/demands/needs affect the configuration process, as opposed to just affecting the interface.

Config for X

(X = assembly, bundling, ...)

Do we need new techniques?

Why is Description Logic suitable for configuration problems?

Some comments (Dave Brown).

A response (Tony Weida).

Why is Constraint Satisfaction suitable for configuration problems?

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Other issues from Rainer Weigel:

What are the ingredients for a "flexible" configuration system?

What are the requirements for a "maintainable knowledge representation" for configuration systems?

Where do the "real" difference between DL and CSPs for configuration come from?

What are the research topics from the industrial point of view?