NATIONAL OPEN UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA

UNIVERSITY VILLAGE, PLOT 91, CASDASTRAL ZONE, NNAMDI AZIKIWE EXPRESS WAY, JABI, ABUJA.
FACULTY OF SCIENCES
OCTOBER 2013 EXAMINATION

COURSE CODE:                                                                              CIT474

COURSE TITLE:                                                                             Introduction to Expert Systems

TIME ALLOWED:                                                                          3 Hours

INSTRUCTIONS:                                                                            Answer any Five (5) Questions

Q1.a     Give a concise description of a ‘shell’ in expert systems.                                                             (3 marks)       

     b.    Name the generic components of a shell.                                                                          (5 marks) 

     c.     State the main difference between forward chaining and backward chaining.                         (6 marks)

Q2.a     Give a brief explanation of the following from the perspective of expert systems:

1. Blackboard system
2. Inference engine
3. MYCIN
4. Working memory                                                                                  (3 marks each)

      b.   State any 2 advantages of expert systems.                                                                                    (2 marks)        

Q3.a     Outline the key functions of individuals who interact with expert systems.                 (12 marks)

      b.   Give a concise explanation of how expert systems resolve uncertainties.                     (2 marks)     

Q4.       Answer the questions that follow after going through the figure below:

      a.   What does the figure depict?                                                                                               (4 marks)

      b.   Specify the major role of the rule parser.                                                                          (6 marks)

      c.    Write down the products of the parser generator.                                                          (4 marks)    

Q5.a     Explain the procedure for designing and building a rule engine.                                  (10 marks)

      b.   Name 2 basic ‘Rule Actions’ in expert systems.                                                                 (4 marks)

Q6.a     The quality and effectiveness of speech produced by speech synthesizers are based

on a number of characteristics. State any 3 of these characteristics.                             (6 marks)

     b.    Name 2 common forms of inferences.                                                                               (4 marks)

     c.     State the difference between these 2 forms of inferences.                                              (4 marks)

Q7.a     Explain the concept of the ‘Conversational Speech Interface’.                                        (6 marks)

      b.   List 5 key components of an expert system.                                                                      (5 marks)

      c.    Define the term ‘grammar’.                                                                                                             (3 marks)