A Frame-Based Mission Decomposition Model

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a mathematical modeling (computer simulation) effort that applied frame-based, data processing constructs, originally developed and applied in the context of artificial intelligence, to the decomposition of a complex Air Force bomber mission. The model was written in LISP to facilitate the development of a concurrent processing environment in which to simulate the simultaneous occurrence of multiple external events/crew tasks. The model simulated a four hour segment of a strategic mission scenario. Two distinct crew complements, four-man and two-man, together with their respective levels of aircraft avionics automation, were represented during a proof-of-concept demonstration. The model provided measures of resource (crew and “black box”) utilization, presumed to correlate to “workload,” at different levels of specificity. These measures were used to identify crew task “chokepoints” (large queue sizes, task interrupts) and to evaluate the effects of automation.