science

Graphical system design

Graphical system design is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Graphical system design rather than just read about it. In short: Graphical system design (GSD) is a modern approach to designing measurement and control systems that integrates system design software with COTS hardware to dramatically simplify development. This approach combines user interfaces, models of computation, math and analysis, Input/output signals, technology abstractions, and various deployment target.

Key takeaways

Graphical system design belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Graphical system design to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Graphical system design from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Graphical system design (GSD) is a modern approach to designing measurement and control systems that integrates system design software with COTS hardware to dramatically simplify development. This approach combines user interfaces, models of computation, math and analysis, Input/output signals, technology abstractions, and various deployment target. It allows domain experts, or non- implementation experts, to access to design capabilities where they would traditionally need to outsource a system design expert. This approach to system design is a super-set of electronic system-level (ESL) design. Graphical system design expands on the EDA-based ESL definition to include other types of embedded system design including industrial machines and medical devices. Many of these expanded applications can be defined as "the long tail" applications.

System-level design Graphical system design is an approach to designing an entire system, using more intuitive graphical software and off-the-shelf (non-custom) hardware devices to refine the design, create initial prototypes, and even use for few runs of deployment. The approach may involve Algorithm engineering. The approach can prove successful when designers need to get something to market quickly (medical video: [1]) or with a team of non-embedded experts like Boston Engineering [2] to create a mechatronics-based machine.

"Graphical system design is a complementary but encompassing platform-based approach that includes embedded and electronic system design, implementation, and verification tools. ESL and graphical system design are really part of the same movement--higher abstraction and more design automation looking to solve the real engineering challenges that designers are facing today--addressing design flaws that are introduced at the specification stage to ensure they're detected well before validation for on-time product delivery."

Tools Graphical system design relies on open connectivity. For example, tools that can be used in the design phase include (in alphabetical order): Ansoft Designer, AutoCAD, CarSim, DOORS, Dymola, LabVIEW, MSC.Adams, NI Multisim, NEi Nastran, SolidWorks, SPICE, OpenWire (library). The prototyping stage is more about taking algorithm design and implementing them on hardware for higher quality designs. An effective prototyping platform includes a high-level language, real-time processors, FPGA logic, modular I/O and any intellectual property needed. The deploy stage is mostly about hardware - where you put your design in the final stage. This may involve MPUs or FPGAs.

Examples Examples of engineers and scientists applying graphical system design techniques include:

Graphical System Design for Digital Radio Mondiale Researchers Use Graphical System Design for Development and Control of Unmanned Underwater Vehicles Developing a Robotic Manipulator for Cancer Therapy Using Graphical System Design Graphical system design for embedded control systems

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Graphical system design

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Graphical system design claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Graphical system design before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Graphical system design ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Graphical system design

In research: Graphical system design appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Graphical system design in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Graphical system design is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Electronic design automation, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Graphical system design outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Graphical system design” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Graphical system design in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Graphical system design means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Graphical system design out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Graphical system design in simple terms?

Why does Graphical system design matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Graphical system design?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Graphical system design.