The Data-Ontology-Rule Footing: A Building Block for Knowledge-Based Development and Event-Driven Execution of Multi-domain Systems

State-of-the-art approaches to semantic modeling of engineering systems focus on the capture and representation of knowledge within one or more domains. A common objective is development of ontologies for the comprehensive representation of knowledge within a domain; usually, far less effort is dedicated to the development of rules for the validation, use, and interaction of the domain with other domains. This paper proposes, in contrast, a framework for knowledge-based development and event-driven execution of multi-domain systems where data, ontologies, and rules within a domain have equal importance and are co-developed. We call this domain-level building block element the data-ontology-rule footing. Our preliminary work indicates that footings can be designed to be modular and can support (1) systems integration of domains through the use of rules that operate across multiple name spaces and (2) synchronization of behavior transitions in multiple domains. Event-driven execution of semantic graphs is achieved through the use of event listeners attached to semantic graphs, which, in turn, can push updates to graphical views of domain behavior. We exercise these capabilities in a case study problem that examines fault tolerance of drone operations in a military mission.