Electronics board life prediction of microprocessor-based transmitters
First Claim
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1. A field device, having two terminals coupleable to a 4-20 mA process control loop, the field device comprising:
- device electronics drawing a supply current from the 4-20 mA process control loop;
supply current measurement circuitry adapted to measure a parameter related to supply current consumed by the device electronics;
a memory structure adapted to receive and store data related to a plurality of successively measured supply current parameters; and
a prediction engine coupled to the memory structure to calculate a life estimate for the device electronics based upon the plurality of supply current parameters.
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Abstract
A field device includes circuitry to successively measure a parameter related to current drawn by electronics of the field device. The measurements are provided to a prediction engine which calculates a diagnostic output based upon the plurality of current-related measurements. The diagnostic prediction provided by the prediction engine can provide an estimate of viable life remaining for the device electronics. The diagnostic feature provides on-line status of the overall status of the field transmitter.
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Citations
13 Claims
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1. A field device, having two terminals coupleable to a 4-20 mA process control loop, the field device comprising:
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device electronics drawing a supply current from the 4-20 mA process control loop;
supply current measurement circuitry adapted to measure a parameter related to supply current consumed by the device electronics;
a memory structure adapted to receive and store data related to a plurality of successively measured supply current parameters; and
a prediction engine coupled to the memory structure to calculate a life estimate for the device electronics based upon the plurality of supply current parameters. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method of predicting board electronics lifetime in a field device, the method comprising:
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successively measuring a plurality of parameters related to electronics supply current;
applying a mathematical model to the successively measured supply current parameters; and
calculating a future time when the supply current is anticipated to reach a selected threshold. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12)
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13. A field device coupleable to a two-wire 4-20 mA process control loop, the field device comprising:
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device electronics;
supply current measurement circuitry coupleable to the 4-20 mA process control loop; and
means for predicting a residual life estimate of the electronics board based upon the plurality of successive supply current measurements.
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Specification