Generating and Evaluating Designs and Plans for Microwave Modules

This paper describes the process planning techniques we developed for us in an integrated product and process design (IPPD) tool for the design and manufacture of microwave transmit/receive modules. Given a collection of data about the design of a microwave module, the IPPD tool uses a combination of AI planning and OR tradeoff analysis to produce a collection of alternative designs and alternative process plans that have Pareto optimal values for manufacturing and purchasing lead time, process yield, cost, and number of suppliers. This information is intended to provide designers with immediate feedback on how to improve the cost and productivity of their designs.