Application of allen’s temporal logic to ontological modeling for enterprise interoperability

Abstract

The problems of creating lifecycle ontologies for enterprise interoperability are addressed in this paper. Enterprise interoperability and enterprise integration are essential components of enterprise engineering (EE). A few definitions and viewpoints on EE are examined in the first hand. An original discipline for EE is considered. A generalized ontological approach to enterprise engineering is developed on the basis of combination of the lifecycle modeling, knowledge management and ontological engineering. It calls for the modeling and coordination of at least three lifecycles: enterprise lifecycle, knowledge lifecycle and product lifecycle. A general representation of lifecycle knowledge graph by a mind map is given. Particular emphasis is put on granular lifecycle upper ontology and meta-ontology. The lifecycle representations being discussed include both visualized and abstract ones. Allen’s logic is used to construct principle temporal relations between stages and phases of lifecycle.