On the Need of New Standardization Efforts in CAD

Current standardization efforts in CAD-related fields may be essentially grouped into two major families of standards:

• computer graphics standards (the CORE - GKS - PHIGS family) aimed mainly at display generation and -to some extent - display (i.e. graphics) storage and retrieval;
• product data exchange standards (the IGES - PDES family) aimed mainly at data transfer between different CAD systems and - to some extent
• product data storage and retrieval.

Following a critical review of these efforts, the author promotes the need of new standardization efforts, aimed at accomplishing some degree of unification of geometric modeling techniques and user interfaces rather than standardizing the resulting data or their graphical presentations.

The author promotes an idea of trying to establish a firm protocol for user-to-(geometric)model and model-to-model communication's, something that may be envisaged as layer-to-layer and peer-to-peer protocols situated above the current highest, seventh (application) level of the ISO-OSI model (in fact, levels 8a and 8b are proposed). As the only unambiguous computer based model of geometric objects available at present is the solid modeling technique, the proposal bases on this methodology as formulated currently in the Experimental Solids Proposal as the suggested starting platform; furthermore the IGES and PHIGS standards are proposed to be included, either as compatible standards or as constituents of the new standard.