Service in e-design: A web "top-down" design tool for creating silicon micro-components

Purpose - The purpose of this research is to develop a kind of new service-driven MEMS "top-down" design method and implement the correspondent web-based software prototype as verification. Design/methodology/ approach - Bond graphs are used as the output of conceptual design. Feature modeling technology is just a bridge to perform the feature mapping from the conceptual model to the structure and geometric model of micro-components. To support design evaluations, a 3D whiteboard collaborative mechanism powered with networked VR service functions is put forward to visualize and operate small micro-components in a macro world. In addition, service-driven MEMS "top-down" design flow is modeled as a formalized "AND/OR" graph with which the design service scheduling is finished with the priority-in-depth searching algorithm. Findings - Traditional MEMS CAD systems were developed on the basis of "bottom-up" design method mainly used in laboratory practice. Different from the above, this research presents a solution, which can outline a new service-driven MEMS CAD model and decrease designers' dependency to manufacturing knowledge. Research limitations/ implications - It is still necessary to study further how to create a much more efficient feature modeling mechanism to enable design evaluation for micro manufacturing. Practical implications - The new design method and the correspondent software prototyping would potentially help industry to promote the development of new MEMS CAD systems. Originality/value - The value is to identify a kind of new MEMS CAD implementation mode, which is suitable for general design uses on network.