Understanding the design of a device requires both knowledge of the ge
neral physical principles that determine its behavior and knowledge of
its intended functions. However; the majority of work in model-based
reasoning has focused on using either one of these types of knowledge
alone. In order to use both types of knowledge in understanding a devi
ce design, one must represent the functional knowledge in such a way t
hat it has a clear interpretation in terms of observed behavior. We pr
opose a new formalism, causal functional representation language (CFRL
), for representing device functions with well-defined semantics in te
rms of behavior CFRL allows the specification of conditions that a beh
avior must satisfy, such as occurrence of temporal sequences of events
and causal relations among them and the components. We have used CFRL
as the basis for a functional verification program, which determines
whether a behavior achieves an intended function.