MODULAR BLACKBOARD BASED EXPERT SYSTEM

An expert system includes a blackboard, a plurality of knowledge sources, a control knowledge source and a control module. The blackboard stores data used during an execution cycle. Each knowledge source includes rules for performing selected operations in connection with the data in the blackboard. The control knowledge source includes selection rules for selecting among the knowledge sources. The control module performing an execution cycle including an eligibility determination phase to identify one or more of the knowledge sources, a knowledge source selection phase using the selection rules in said control knowledge source to select one of the identified knowledge sources, and an action phase to process a rule of the selected knowledge source.