process characteristic
IRI: https://spec.industrialontologies.org/ontology/construct/ProcessCharacteristic
Defined In: https://spec.industrialontologies.org/ontology/core/Core/
SubClass Of: bfo:continuant
Class Hierarchy
owl:Thing › bfo:entity › bfo:continuant › process characteristic
Definition
continuant that summarizes an attribute of a process over its entire duration, providing a time-independent characterization of the process as a whole
Semi-Formal Definition:
every instance of ‘process characteristic’ is defined as exactly an instance of ‘continuant’ that is ‘process characteristic of’ some ‘process’
Explanatory Notes
1) A process characteristic is a continuant rather than an occurrent because it characterizes a process as a single whole rather than as something that unfolds in time. Unlike a process or a process profile, which has different temporal parts occupying different temporal regions, a process characteristic has no part tied to time. The summarization of the target attribute considers all of its temporal parts—for example, the maximum temperature can only be known by considering the entire temperature profile of a heating process.
2) The “attribute” mentioned in the definition is the specific feature of a process whose time-dependent behavior are captured by a ‘process profile’, but which may be summarized by a ‘process characteristic’ over the whole duration of the process.
3) Summarization means describing an attribute of a process with a single overall characterization instead of representing how it varies over time. For example, the speed profile of a car’s movement can be summarized by taking average of all instantaneous speeds over the entire duration the movement occurred, e.g., 45kmph average speed. However, the summarization may also be qualitative for some type process characteristics, e.g., the heartbeat was steady or stuttering.
Examples
- The maximum temperature of a heating process, the average wind speed of a turbine operation process, total fuel consumed in a boiling process, the peak RPM of a engine running process, overall noise level (good, fair, or poor) of a transmission process, average throughput of a production process
Counter-Examples
- temperature curve during heating, heart rate over time during exercise, RPM vs time for an engine, count-per-minute variation during production, daily average temprature over last month
Primitive Class
This class is declared primitive and it does not have necessary and sufficient condiftions defined.
Primitive Rationale
The construct is primitive because of the following two ideosyncratic design decisions which may require re-evaluation in the future. 1) The construct is defined using a trans-ontological relation ‘process characteristics of’, which relates a ‘continuant’ to a ‘process’, an ‘occurrent’. 2) The consruct is broadly classified as ‘continuant’, without further specialization.
Formal Axioms
First-Order Logic Definition
ProcessCharacteristic(x) ↔ Continuant(x) ∧ ∃p(Process(p) ∧ processCharacteristicOf(x, p))
First-Order Logic Axioms
∀c, c', x, x′(processCharacteristicOf(c, x) ∧ continuantPartOf(c', c) ∧ temporalPartOf(x′,x) → ¬ processCharacteristicOf(c',x′))
Semi-Formal Natural Language Axioms
if c is ‘process characteristic of’ x and c′ is a ‘continuant part of’ c and x′ is a ‘temporal part of’ x, then c′ is not ‘process characteristic of’ x′
Description Logic
constr:ProcessCharacteristic ≡ bfo:continuant ⊓ ∃ constr:processCharacteristicOf .bfo:process
constr:ProcessCharacteristic ⊑ bfo:continuant
EquivalentTo: bfo:continuant and constr:processCharacteristicOf some bfo:process
SubClassOf: bfo:continuant