{ "model": { "rank": 6720, "code": "thing-q4343", "model_id": "vr.tr.sound-card", "name": "sound card", "purpose": "Enable an AI agent to recognise a sound card, assess its audio capabilities and operating state, and determine compatible, safe recording and playback actions.", "family": "Thing Registry", "category": "Physical world and living systems", "status": "research-draft", "kind": "thing", "plane": "PHY", "domain": "PHY.OBJ", "industry": "", "version": "", "url": "/models/thing/q4343/", "tier": 2, "score": 59, "payload": { "layer": "wikidata", "aliases": [ "RealMagic", "Asus Xonar", "Sound Blaster 16", "Sound Blaster Live!" ], "aliasCount": 4, "merged": 4, "knownIn": 59, "facets": null, "markers": [], "lexicalClass": "", "senseRank": null, "alsoRegisteredAs": null, "source": { "dataset": "wikidata", "item": "Q4343", "url": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4343", "license": "CC0 1.0" } }, "research": { "vercy": "1.0-draft", "publication": { "status": "research-draft", "adjudicationStatus": "unreviewed", "publishableCanonical": false, "generatedAt": "2026-09-09T23:21:58Z", "providers": [ "Codex" ], "breadth": "recalled by Codex without web access - no source was read", "missingProviders": [], "pass": 2, "cost": { "grok": { "seconds": 20.7, "error": "Reading additional input from stdin...\nOpenAI Codex v0.153.4\n--------\nworkdir: R:\\02_PROJECTS\\02_Meta_Models_Platforms\\Ver.cy\\current\\thing-registry-backlog\nmodel: gpt-6-astra\nprovider: openai\napproval: never\nsandbox: read-only\nreasoning effort: none\nreasoning summaries: none\nsession id: 01a08879-66f8-7ad3-a6f8-d471f50bbc99\n--------\nuser\nDescribe what is already known about one registered thing. Answer as JSON only, no prose around it.\n\nThing: sound card\nSense to describe: (none recorded)\nDomain code: PHY.OBJ\nAlso known as: (none)\n\n\nContext for this batch of 1001 things:\n# Batch 007: 1001 regi", "usd": 0, "recall": true }, "codex": { "seconds": 65.7, "error": "Reading additional input from stdin...\nOpenAI Codex v0.153.4\n--------\nworkdir: R:\\02_PROJECTS\\02_Meta_Models_Platforms\\Ver.cy\\current\\thing-registry-backlog\nmodel: gpt-6-astra\nprovider: openai\napproval: never\nsandbox: read-only\nreasoning effort: none\nreasoning summaries: none\nsession id: 01a08879-66eb-72a1-81fe-473b357f53c6\n--------\nuser\nYou are drafting a Vercy meta-model for one registered thing. Answer as JSON only, no prose around it.\n\nThing: sound card\nRegistry id: vr.tr.sound-card\nPlane / domain: PHY / PHY.OBJ\nRegistry definition: (none recorded)\nNames folded into this entry: (none)\n\n\nCo" } } }, "metaModel": { "id": "THING-Q4343", "registryId": "vr.tr.sound-card", "name": "sound card", "version": "0.1.0-research.1", "entryKind": "thing", "family": "Thing Registry", "domain": [ "PHY.OBJ" ], "status": "research-draft" }, "canonicalUrl": "https://ver.cy/models/thing/q4343/", "model": { "registry_id": "vr.tr.sound-card", "name": "sound card", "purpose": "Enable an AI agent to recognise a sound card, assess its audio capabilities and operating state, and determine compatible, safe recording and playback actions.", "definition": "A sound card is a computer audio hardware subsystem, implemented as an expansion card, integrated circuitry or an external peripheral, that provides audio input, output or both through digital audio interfaces and, where fitted, analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog conversion.", "scope_statement": "This model owns the registered kind vr.tr.sound-card in PHY / PHY.OBJ: computer-associated physical audio hardware that provides audio input, output, or processing, including its signal paths, host dependencies, configuration and operational limits; product models and individual units are instances of this kind.", "in_scope": [ "Audio conversion, routing and processing capabilities", "Internal, integrated and external implementations, with their classification boundary recorded explicitly", "Host connections, driver dependencies and audio endpoint exposure", "Analogue and digital audio ports, channel arrangements and electrical compatibility", "Supported operating modes, measured performance and fault states", "Configuration, diagnostics and maintenance relevant to audio operation" ], "out_of_scope": [ "The host computer's general computing capabilities", "Microphones, loudspeakers and headphones as separate devices", "Audio recordings, compositions and their intellectual content", "Recording and playback software beyond its interface with the hardware", "Standalone mixers, amplifiers and converters without a qualifying computer-audio role", "Commercial product families and inventories of individual units" ], "distinguishing_features": [ "Provides a physical computer-audio function; a virtual audio driver alone does not qualify.", "Exposes or supplies host-usable audio input, output or processing rather than merely transporting arbitrary computer data.", "Has an identifiable audio signal path; a passive connector adapter alone does not qualify.", "A headphone amplifier or standalone converter qualifies only if its host-audio role falls within the adopted sound-card boundary.", "Internal expansion cards, motherboard audio and external interfaces require explicit classification rather than treating enclosure shape as decisive." ], "characteristics": [ { "name": "Implementation form", "kind": "category", "unit_or_values": "Internal expansion card | motherboard-integrated audio | external interface | other documented form", "why_it_matters": "Determines installation, replacement and classification boundaries." }, { "name": "Host interface", "kind": "category", "unit_or_values": "Documented bus or link type, version and connector", "why_it_matters": "Determines physical and protocol compatibility with the host." }, { "name": "Audio direction", "kind": "category", "unit_or_values": "Playback | capture | simultaneous playback and capture", "why_it_matters": "Prevents assuming every sound card supports both recording and playback." }, { "name": "Concurrent channel capacity", "kind": "measurement", "unit_or_values": "Input and output channel counts, qualified by port, format and operating mode", "why_it_matters": "Determines whether the requested audio arrangement can run simultaneously." }, { "name": "Supported sample rates", "kind": "measurement", "unit_or_values": "Hz, qualified by direction, channel count and interface", "why_it_matters": "Supports compatible stream configuration without assuming every mode combination is valid." }, { "name": "Digital sample format", "kind": "category", "unit_or_values": "Supported encoding, container width and valid bits per sample", "why_it_matters": "Distinguishes transfer format from effective analogue performance." }, { "name": "Port signal compatibility", "kind": "category", "unit_or_values": "Connector and pinout; analogue or digital; microphone, instrument, line, headphone or documented alternative", "why_it_matters": "Physical connector fit does not establish signal compatibility." }, { "name": "Electrical operating limits", "kind": "measurement", "unit_or_values": "Input and output level in V RMS or explicitly referenced dB units; impedance in Ω; supplied bias or power in V", "why_it_matters": "Supports compatible connections and avoids overload or inappropriate powered connections." }, { "name": "Audio performance", "kind": "measurement", "unit_or_values": "Latency in ms; frequency response in Hz and dB; noise and distortion with stated units and test conditions", "why_it_matters": "Allows suitability judgments based on measured behaviour rather than nominal format support." }, { "name": "Host software dependency", "kind": "relation", "unit_or_values": "Compatible operating systems, driver packages, firmware versions and audio APIs", "why_it_matters": "Hardware capability may be unavailable through a particular software configuration." }, { "name": "Clock configuration", "kind": "state", "unit_or_values": "Clock source, selected rate, lock status and synchronisation peers where applicable", "why_it_matters": "Helps diagnose incompatible digital streams, drift and intermittent audio faults." }, { "name": "Operational state", "kind": "state", "unit_or_values": "Detected endpoints, active routes, mute and gain settings, stream status and observed errors", "why_it_matters": "Distinguishes available hardware from an audio path that is actually usable." } ], "affordances": [ "Match a host, driver and sound card for a required recording or playback task.", "Select compatible ports, signal levels and channel assignments for attached audio equipment.", "Configure a supported combination of sample rate, sample format, channels and buffer settings.", "Route and monitor audio while managing clipping, excessive output and feedback risks.", "Diagnose missing endpoints, silence, noise, dropouts and digital clock faults.", "Plan driver, firmware or hardware maintenance with a recoverable configuration." ] }, "sources": [], "structure": { "bundles": [ { "id": "identity-and-host-integration", "name": "Identity and host integration", "description": "Establishes which physical audio function is being modelled and how the host accesses it.", "rationale": "Sound-card names can refer to an expansion board, integrated circuitry or an external interface, while one physical device can expose several logical endpoints.", "layers": [ { "id": "physical-audio-boundary", "name": "Physical audio boundary", "description": "Separates the registered kind from adjacent audio devices and software endpoints.", "findings": [ { "id": "qualifying-host-audio-role", "name": "Qualifying host-audio role", "description": "Record the physical subsystem and its host-audio role before classifying it as a sound card.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which physical components provide the host's audio capture, playback or processing function?", "kind": "definition", "id": "qualifying-host-audio-role-q01" }, { "text": "Does this implementation belong here or to a neighbouring model for an audio interface, converter or amplifier?", "kind": "boundary", "id": "qualifying-host-audio-role-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "host-access", "name": "Host access", "description": "Connects physical installation to driver support and exposed audio endpoints.", "findings": [ { "id": "hardware-to-endpoint-mapping", "name": "Hardware-to-endpoint mapping", "description": "Record the host interface and software dependencies that make each hardware audio path available.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which host interface, operating system, driver and firmware combination exposes the required endpoints?", "kind": "definition", "id": "hardware-to-endpoint-mapping-q01" }, { "text": "Which manufacturer documentation or observed enumeration establishes that each endpoint belongs to this hardware?", "kind": "provenance", "id": "hardware-to-endpoint-mapping-q02" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "ports-and-electrical-compatibility", "name": "Ports and electrical compatibility", "description": "Describes what may be connected and the signal conditions each connection requires.", "rationale": "Similar-looking audio connectors can carry incompatible signal levels, channel arrangements or power.", "layers": [ { "id": "port-and-channel-map", "name": "Port and channel map", "description": "Maps connectors to signal roles, channels and configurable assignments.", "findings": [ { "id": "connector-function-assignment", "name": "Connector function assignment", "description": "Record connector pinouts, audio direction and channel assignments, including any retasking or shared-port restrictions.", "questions": [ { "text": "What signal type, direction, pinout and channel assignment does each port support?", "kind": "definition", "id": "connector-function-assignment-q01" }, { "text": "Which ports change function with software settings or prevent other ports from operating simultaneously?", "kind": "boundary", "id": "connector-function-assignment-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "electrical-matching", "name": "Electrical matching", "description": "Captures levels, loads and powered-input conditions relevant to connected equipment.", "findings": [ { "id": "signal-and-power-limits", "name": "Signal and power limits", "description": "Record documented electrical limits and distinguish any microphone bias or phantom-power provision instead of inferring it from connector appearance.", "questions": [ { "text": "What input limits, output levels and load impedances apply to each analogue port under stated conditions?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "signal-and-power-limits-q01" }, { "text": "What powered-input or output settings must be checked before connecting the intended microphone, instrument, amplifier or headphones?", "kind": "action", "id": "signal-and-power-limits-q02" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "conversion-streams-and-clocking", "name": "Conversion, streams and clocking", "description": "Defines usable audio modes and the timing relationships between host streams and physical signals.", "rationale": "Headline sample-rate and channel specifications do not describe all concurrent modes or digital synchronisation requirements.", "layers": [ { "id": "supported-audio-modes", "name": "Supported audio modes", "description": "Records valid combinations of direction, channels, format and conversion paths.", "findings": [ { "id": "mode-combination-constraints", "name": "Mode combination constraints", "description": "Represent supported operating combinations explicitly, including simultaneous capture and playback and any conversion or resampling.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which sample rates, sample formats and channel counts are supported together for each input and output path?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "mode-combination-constraints-q01" }, { "text": "Which modes require resampling, disable another path or restrict simultaneous capture and playback?", "kind": "boundary", "id": "mode-combination-constraints-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "clock-and-buffer-behaviour", "name": "Clock and buffer behaviour", "description": "Records clock selection, synchronisation and buffering relevant to continuous audio.", "findings": [ { "id": "timing-configuration-and-stability", "name": "Timing configuration and stability", "description": "Separate clock synchronisation from host buffering and assess their effects under the intended workload.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which clock source is active, and how is valid lock established when digital audio peers are connected?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "timing-configuration-and-stability-q01" }, { "text": "What buffer setting sustains the intended workload, and what measured latency and dropout rate result?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "timing-configuration-and-stability-q02" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "routing-monitoring-and-performance", "name": "Routing, monitoring and performance", "description": "Connects configured signal paths with the audio results required by the task.", "rationale": "A detected sound card can remain silent, route audio incorrectly or produce unsuitable results because of mixer, monitoring or gain settings.", "layers": [ { "id": "signal-routing-and-gain", "name": "Signal routing and gain", "description": "Follows audio through input selection, mixers, processing, monitoring and output control.", "findings": [ { "id": "active-signal-path", "name": "Active signal path", "description": "Record the selected route and its gain, mute, processing and monitoring settings, including hardware or software loopback where present.", "questions": [ { "text": "Through which input, mixer, processing and output stages does the intended signal pass?", "kind": "definition", "id": "active-signal-path-q01" }, { "text": "Which route and gain changes will establish the intended monitoring path without clipping, excessive output or feedback?", "kind": "action", "id": "active-signal-path-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "performance-evidence", "name": "Performance evidence", "description": "Separates nominal capability from measured audio quality and task suitability.", "findings": [ { "id": "qualified-audio-measurements", "name": "Qualified audio measurements", "description": "Attach test conditions to performance claims and distinguish analogue-path results from supported digital sample formats.", "questions": [ { "text": "What frequency response, noise, distortion and channel separation are measured for the intended path, gain and load?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "qualified-audio-measurements-q01" }, { "text": "Which test report or reproducible measurement supports these values, and does it isolate the sound card from the test equipment?", "kind": "provenance", "id": "qualified-audio-measurements-q02" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "fault-isolation-and-service", "name": "Fault isolation and service", "description": "Supports diagnosis, corrective changes and restoration of a verified audio configuration.", "rationale": "Sound-card failures can arise in hardware, cabling, clocking, drivers or routing, so symptoms alone do not identify the failed component.", "layers": [ { "id": "audio-fault-diagnosis", "name": "Audio fault diagnosis", "description": "Relates observed symptoms to discriminating checks across the audio path.", "findings": [ { "id": "symptom-to-path-isolation", "name": "Symptom-to-path isolation", "description": "Record reproducible symptoms and use controlled substitutions or measurements to locate their cause.", "questions": [ { "text": "Under which ports, stream settings, workloads and connected-device arrangements do silence, hum, distortion or dropouts occur?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "symptom-to-path-isolation-q01" }, { "text": "Which controlled check distinguishes a sound-card fault from cabling, host software, clock mismatch or attached equipment?", "kind": "action", "id": "symptom-to-path-isolation-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "maintenance-and-recovery", "name": "Maintenance and recovery", "description": "Records applicable service procedures, configuration recovery and compliance evidence.", "findings": [ { "id": "verified-service-and-restoration", "name": "Verified service and restoration", "description": "Tie installation, software updates and physical servicing to the particular implementation and preserve the information needed to restore audio operation.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which manufacturer instructions and applicable interface, electrical-safety or electromagnetic-compatibility declarations govern this implementation?", "kind": "provenance", "id": "verified-service-and-restoration-q01" }, { "text": "What configuration backup, power-state preparation, rollback method and post-service audio checks are required for the proposed maintenance?", "kind": "action", "id": "verified-service-and-restoration-q02" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "evidence-and-external-alignment", "name": "Evidence and external alignment", "description": "What the world already says about this thing, gathered so the model can be checked against it.", "rationale": "A model that cannot be lined up against existing standards, identifiers and practice cannot be adopted by anyone who already uses them.", "layers": [ { "id": "reported-evidence", "name": "Reported evidence", "description": "Findings from the breadth pass, kept separate from the structural claims.", "findings": [ { "id": "evidence-confidence-notes", "name": "Check these first", "description": "Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.", "evidence": [ "This is recalled knowledge, not source-verified research; the listed specifications apply only to implementations using those interfaces.", "Sound card is sometimes restricted to internal expansion cards; usage also commonly includes integrated and external computer audio devices.", "Sampling rates and word lengths describe common supported formats, not effective converter resolution or guaranteed audio quality." ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-confidence-notes-q01", "text": "Which of these check these first hold for the sense of sound card this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-kinds", "name": "Kinds and varieties", "description": "Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.", "evidence": [ "Internal PCI or PCI Express sound card", "Motherboard-integrated audio", "External USB sound card", "Multichannel surround sound card", "Professional recording sound card or audio interface" ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-kinds-q01", "text": "Which of these kinds and varieties hold for the sense of sound card this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-identifiers", "name": "Identifiers and schemes", "description": "Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.", "evidence": [ { "scheme": "PCI vendor and device IDs", "value_or_pattern": "16-bit vendor ID paired with a 16-bit device ID", "note": "Identifies PCI or PCI Express hardware implementations; subsystem IDs can distinguish board variants." }, { "scheme": "USB vendor and product IDs", "value_or_pattern": "VID_xxxx and PID_xxxx, with four hexadecimal digits per field", "note": "Applies to USB implementations; identifies a product implementation rather than an individual physical unit." } ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-identifiers-q01", "text": "Which of these identifiers and schemes hold for the sense of sound card this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-standards-and-regulation", "name": "Standards and regulation", "description": "Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.", "evidence": [ "USB Audio Device Class specifications - USB Implementers Forum; define interoperable USB audio device behavior.", "High Definition Audio Specification - Intel; defines a controller-to-codec architecture widely used for integrated computer audio.", "IEC 60958 - International Electrotechnical Commission; specifies digital audio interfaces relevant to equipped devices.", "AES3 - Audio Engineering Society; specifies a digital audio interface used by some professional devices." ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-standards-and-regulation-q01", "text": "Which of these standards and regulation hold for the sense of sound card this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-real-world-use", "name": "Real-world use", "description": "Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.", "evidence": [ "Playback through headphones, powered speakers or external amplifiers", "Recording microphones, instruments and line-level audio sources", "Voice communication and conferencing", "Multichannel playback for games and audiovisual media", "Music production, monitoring and audio signal processing" ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-real-world-use-q01", "text": "Which of these real-world use hold for the sense of sound card this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-measurements", "name": "Typical measurements", "description": "Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.", "evidence": [ { "quantity": "Common supported PCM sampling rates", "typical_range": "44.1-192", "unit": "kHz" }, { "quantity": "Common PCM sample word lengths", "typical_range": "16 or 24", "unit": "bits per sample" }, { "quantity": "Consumer analog playback channel count", "typical_range": "2-8", "unit": "channels" } ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-measurements-q01", "text": "Which of these typical measurements hold for the sense of sound card this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-failure-modes-and-hazards", "name": "Failure modes and hazards", "description": "Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.", "evidence": [ "Driver, firmware or device-selection problems can cause missing audio or unavailable inputs and outputs.", "Buffer underruns and overruns can produce clicks, dropouts or interrupted recording.", "Excessive input or output gain can cause clipping and distortion.", "Ground loops, poor shielding or electrical interference can introduce hum and noise.", "Excessive headphone or loudspeaker output levels can damage hearing." ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-failure-modes-and-hazards-q01", "text": "Which of these failure modes and hazards hold for the sense of sound card this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-neighbours", "name": "Neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart", "description": "Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.", "evidence": [ { "name": "Audio interface", "difference": "The terms overlap; audio interface commonly emphasizes recording connections, preamplifiers and monitoring, while sound card commonly describes a computer audio subsystem." }, { "name": "Audio codec integrated circuit", "difference": "A codec chip performs conversion and related signal functions within a subsystem; a sound card includes the computer-facing implementation and supporting circuitry." }, { "name": "Digital-to-analog converter", "difference": "A DAC performs one conversion function; a sound card provides a computer audio interface and may also support recording or digital-only connections." }, { "name": "Audio amplifier", "difference": "An amplifier increases signal voltage or power; computer audio data exchange and conversion are not its defining functions." } ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-neighbours-q01", "text": "Which of these neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart hold for the sense of sound card this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] } ] } ] } ] }, "openQuestions": [ "Does the registry intend sound card to include motherboard audio, external USB interfaces and audio functions embedded in other expansion hardware, or are some covered by existing neighbouring models?", "Which existing Vercy world model, if any, already owns this concept and should provide its single source of truth?", "Which authoritative technical sources establish the common capability vocabulary without generalising optional professional-interface features to all sound cards?", "Which interface standards and jurisdiction-specific conformity requirements apply to each implementation, and what evidence is needed to record compliance?", "Which reproducible test conditions and task-specific acceptance thresholds should govern latency, noise, distortion and reliable simultaneous channel operation?" ], "statistics": { "bundles": 6, "layers": 11, "findings": 18, "questions": 28 } }, "draft": { "generator": "vr.draft.v3", "status": "draft-generated", "researched": false, "archetype": "device, machine or tool", "method": "Written from the archetype playbook - what this kind of thing needs beyond identity and provenance - and from the structure that recurred across 6,333 models already researched by two engines. Applied to this entry by rule. No source was read for this thing and no claim here is researched. This entry carries no facets of its own, so they were inferred from its domain - a guess about a whole domain applied to one thing.", "facetsInferred": true, "nextPass": "A researcher replaces this draft with a sourced specification. Treat every sentence below as a proposal to argue with.", "purpose": "Give an agent a durable, checkable way to recognise a sound card, record what state it is in, and decide what may be done with it.", "whatItIs": "Enable an AI agent to recognise a sound card, assess its audio capabilities and operating state, and determine compatible, safe recording and playback actions.", "characteristics": { "substance": "material", "origin": "manufactured", "agency": "inert", "mobility": "varies" }, "whatYouCanDoWithIt": [ "observed and measured" ], "distinguishingFeatures": [ "Names folded into this entry, which a task may need to split apart again: RealMagic, Asus Xonar, Sound Blaster 16, Sound Blaster Live!.", "4 finer distinctions are held as aliases rather than separate entries, because telling them apart needs a task that asks for it.", "Described in 59 Wikipedia languages, which is a measure of how widely the thing is known, not of how important it is." ], "openQuestionsForResearch": [ "Which of the bundles below does a real task actually need, and which are ceremony?", "What does this thing have that the facets do not capture at all?", "Which neighbouring kind is most often confused with a sound card, and on what evidence are they told apart?" ], "whatItIsMadeOf": "matter you can touch", "physicalCharacter": [ "Mobility varies between examples.", "Does nothing on its own; everything it does, something else did to it.", "These come from the domain this entry sits in rather than from the entry itself, so treat them as a first guess about the whole domain applied to one thing." ], "whatCanBeDoneWithIt": [ "observe it, measure it, record its state" ], "howItIsRecognised": [ "Recognised by form, by the arrangement of its controls, and by markings - a plate, a model number, a certification mark. Form alone rarely separates two models that do very different things." ], "relatedModels": [ { "relation": "covers", "note": "Finer kinds folded into this entry because telling them apart needs a task that asks for it. Each is a model waiting to be split out when one does.", "targets": [ "RealMagic", "Asus Xonar", "Sound Blaster 16", "Sound Blaster Live!" ] } ], "standing": "Described in 59 Wikipedia languages, which measures how widely it is written about rather than how important or how common it is. 4 finer distinctions are held inside this entry as names rather than as separate models.", "structure": { "bundles": [ { "id": "identity-and-classification", "name": "Identity, naming and classification", "description": "How an agent tells one sound card from another, and a sound card from things that resemble it.", "rationale": "Recognition comes before every other claim. Without stable identity nothing else in the model can be trusted to be about the same thing twice.", "layers": [ { "id": "naming-and-identifiers", "name": "Names and identifiers", "description": "The names this thing goes by and the identifiers that survive translation and time.", "findings": [ { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases", "name": "Preferred name, aliases and local names", "description": "Which name to use, which names mean the same thing, and which merely sound similar.", "questions": [ { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the name of a sound card, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the name of a sound card, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the name of a sound card is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers", "name": "Stable identifiers and external keys", "description": "Identifiers that keep pointing at this kind of thing across systems and languages.", "questions": [ { "id": "stable-identifiers-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes an identifier for a sound card, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about an identifier for a sound card, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once an identifier for a sound card is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "classification-and-granularity", "name": "Classification and granularity", "description": "Where a sound card sits among kinds, and how finely a task needs to cut it.", "findings": [ { "id": "kind-and-parents", "name": "Kind, parents and neighbouring kinds", "description": "The classes this thing belongs to and the ones it is next to.", "questions": [ { "id": "kind-and-parents-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the kind of a sound card, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "kind-and-parents-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the kind of a sound card, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "kind-and-parents-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the kind of a sound card is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features", "name": "Distinguishing features", "description": "What separates a sound card from the things most often confused with it.", "questions": [ { "id": "distinguishing-features-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes what distinguishes a sound card, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about what distinguishes a sound card, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once what distinguishes a sound card is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "form-and-composition", "name": "Form, composition and condition", "description": "What a sound card is made of, what shape and size it takes, and what state it is in.", "rationale": "A physical thing can be measured, and a model that cannot record its measurements cannot support any decision that depends on them.", "layers": [ { "id": "form-and-dimensions", "name": "Form and dimensions", "description": "Shape, size, mass and the ranges these take across examples.", "findings": [ { "id": "measurable-dimensions", "name": "Measurable dimensions and their units", "description": "The quantities worth recording and the units they are recorded in.", "questions": [ { "id": "measurable-dimensions-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the dimensions of a sound card, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "measurable-dimensions-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the dimensions of a sound card, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "measurable-dimensions-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the dimensions of a sound card is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "material-and-composition", "name": "Material and composition", "description": "Materials, parts and how they are put together.", "findings": [ { "id": "parts-and-materials", "name": "Parts and materials", "description": "What a sound card is built from and which parts are replaceable.", "questions": [ { "id": "parts-and-materials-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the composition of a sound card, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "parts-and-materials-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the composition of a sound card, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "parts-and-materials-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the composition of a sound card is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "condition-and-integrity", "name": "Condition and integrity", "description": "Wear, damage, health and the difference between working and broken.", "findings": [ { "id": "condition-assessment", "name": "Condition, damage and health", "description": "How the condition of a sound card is judged and by whom.", "questions": [ { "id": "condition-assessment-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the condition of a sound card, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "condition-assessment-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the condition of a sound card, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "condition-assessment-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the condition of a sound card is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "place-and-movement", "name": "Place and movement", "description": "Where a sound card is, how it got there and where it may go (varies).", "rationale": "A thing that can move needs its position recorded with a time, or every later claim about it is about a place it has left.", "layers": [ { "id": "location-and-placement", "name": "Location and placement", "description": "Position, containment and the reference frame the position is given in.", "findings": [ { "id": "position-and-frame", "name": "Position, container and reference frame", "description": "Where a sound card is, and what that position is measured against.", "questions": [ { "id": "position-and-frame-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the location of a sound card, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "position-and-frame-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the location of a sound card, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "position-and-frame-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the location of a sound card is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "movement-and-transfer", "name": "Movement and transfer", "description": "How a sound card is carried, installed or relocated.", "findings": [ { "id": "movement-events", "name": "Movement events and constraints", "description": "What counts as a movement, what records it and what limits it.", "questions": [ { "id": "movement-events-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the movement of a sound card, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "movement-events-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the movement of a sound card, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "movement-events-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the movement of a sound card is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "state-and-lifecycle", "name": "State and lifecycle", "description": "The states a sound card passes through and the events that move it between them.", "rationale": "Most decisions about a thing depend on what state it is in now, which is a claim with a time on it, not a property.", "layers": [ { "id": "lifecycle-stages", "name": "Lifecycle stages", "description": "From coming into existence to ceasing to be one of these.", "findings": [ { "id": "stages-and-transitions", "name": "Stages and transitions", "description": "The stages worth naming and what moves a sound card between them.", "questions": [ { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the lifecycle of a sound card, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the lifecycle of a sound card, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the lifecycle of a sound card is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "observations-and-status", "name": "Observations and current status", "description": "What is observed about a sound card, how often and by whom.", "findings": [ { "id": "observation-record", "name": "Observation record", "description": "How an observation of a sound card is recorded so that it can be superseded rather than overwritten.", "questions": [ { "id": "observation-record-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes an observation of a sound card, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "observation-record-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about an observation of a sound card, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "observation-record-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once an observation of a sound card is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "function-and-principle", "name": "Function and operating principle", "description": "What sound card is for and how it achieves it.", "rationale": "Two devices with the same name can work on different principles, and the principle is what predicts failure and constrains use.", "layers": [ { "id": "intended-function", "name": "Intended function", "description": "The job it does, and the jobs it is used for anyway.", "findings": [ { "id": "function-record", "name": "Function, principle and variants", "description": "What it does, how, and which variants do it differently.", "questions": [ { "id": "function-record-q01", "text": "What function does sound card perform, on what operating principle, and which variants differ in that principle?", "kind": "definition" }, { "id": "function-record-q02", "text": "What use falls outside the intended function but happens in practice?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] }, { "id": "capacity-and-rating", "name": "Capacity and rating", "description": "The numbers that say what it can do and where it stops.", "findings": [ { "id": "ratings", "name": "Ratings and their conditions", "description": "Rated capacity, power, throughput and the conditions each assumes.", "questions": [ { "id": "ratings-q01", "text": "What ratings characterise sound card, in what units, and under what stated conditions?", "kind": "measurement" }, { "id": "ratings-q02", "text": "What happens beyond the rating - degradation, refusal, damage - and how is that detected?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "operation-and-state", "name": "Operation, controls and state", "description": "How sound card is operated and what state it is in right now.", "rationale": "An agent acting on a device needs its current state and the controls that change it, not just its specification.", "layers": [ { "id": "controls-and-modes", "name": "Controls and modes", "description": "What can be set, what that changes, and what is interlocked.", "findings": [ { "id": "control-surface", "name": "Control surface and interlocks", "description": "The settings available and the conditions that block them.", "questions": [ { "id": "control-surface-q01", "text": "What controls and modes does sound card have, and what does each change?", "kind": "definition" }, { "id": "control-surface-q02", "text": "Which actions are interlocked or forbidden in which state, and what must be true before acting?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] }, { "id": "condition-and-maintenance", "name": "Condition and maintenance", "description": "Wear, service intervals, consumables and the line between working and broken.", "findings": [ { "id": "service-record", "name": "Condition, service and consumables", "description": "What is consumed, what is serviced, and how condition is judged.", "questions": [ { "id": "service-record-q01", "text": "What consumables and service does sound card need, at what interval, and on whose authority?", "kind": "measurement" }, { "id": "service-record-q02", "text": "What evidence separates a unit that is working from one that is out of service?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "kind-model-unit", "name": "Kind, model and unit", "description": "Whether a claim about sound card is about the kind, a product line, or one physical unit.", "rationale": "This is the boundary most often got wrong for made things, and getting it wrong mixes a catalogue entry with the machine in the yard.", "layers": [ { "id": "level-of-reference", "name": "Level of reference", "description": "The three levels and what belongs at each.", "findings": [ { "id": "level-rules", "name": "What belongs to kind, model and unit", "description": "Which properties are shared by all of them and which are not.", "questions": [ { "id": "level-rules-q01", "text": "Which facts about sound card hold for every one of them, which for a model, and which only for one unit?", "kind": "boundary" }, { "id": "level-rules-q02", "text": "What identifies an individual unit, and what should an agent do when it has only the kind?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] }, { "id": "standards-and-conformity", "name": "Standards and conformity", "description": "The standards a working example must meet and who attests it.", "findings": [ { "id": "conformity", "name": "Standards, marks and attestation", "description": "Which standard applies, who certifies, and what the mark means.", "questions": [ { "id": "conformity-q01", "text": "Which standards govern sound card, issued by whom, and what does conformity actually assert?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "id": "conformity-q02", "text": "What may an agent conclude from a certification mark, and what may it not?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "provenance-and-evidence", "name": "Provenance, evidence and time", "description": "Where every claim about a sound card came from and when it held.", "rationale": "A claim without a source and a time cannot be superseded, only overwritten, and an agent that overwrites loses the ability to explain itself.", "layers": [ { "id": "source-and-authority", "name": "Source and authority", "description": "Who said it, on what evidence, and how strongly.", "findings": [ { "id": "claim-provenance", "name": "Claim provenance and confidence", "description": "The authority behind each claim about a sound card and how confident it is.", "questions": [ { "id": "claim-provenance-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes a claim about a sound card, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "claim-provenance-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about a claim about a sound card, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "claim-provenance-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once a claim about a sound card is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "time-and-versions", "name": "Time, versions and supersession", "description": "When a claim was true, when it was learnt, and what replaced it.", "findings": [ { "id": "validity-and-supersession", "name": "Validity period and supersession", "description": "How an old claim about a sound card is retired without being erased.", "questions": [ { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the validity of a claim about a sound card, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the validity of a claim about a sound card, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the validity of a claim about a sound card is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] } ] }, "statistics": { "bundles": 8, "layers": 17, "findings": 19, "questions": 51 } } } }