Fault-tolerant architecture for a distributed control system
First Claim
1. Fault tolerant architecture, comprising:
- a plurality of fault tolerant units;
a wire-based communication bus over which said fault tolerant units communicate;
at least one radio transceiver associated with each of the fault tolerant units; and
, the fault-tolerant units operable to communicate therebetween using the radio transceivers when a fault occurs in the wire-based communication bus.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A fault-tolerant architecture, comprising fault tolerant units, a wire-based communication bus, and respective radio transceivers is offered. The fault-tolerant units communicate using the radio transceivers when communication via the wire-based communication bus is compromised by a fault. The intent is to enhance reliability and fault-tolerance of a distributed system architecture, such as a steer-by-wire system for a vehicle. The novel drive-by-wire/wireless architecture uses multiple wireless sensors and short-range low power radio transceivers associated with various micro-controllers. These sensors and radio transceivers allow the micro-controllers to communicate critical control signals and drive commands in the event of a communications fault, e.g. in a vehicle drive-by-wire system.
70 Citations
28 Claims
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1. Fault tolerant architecture, comprising:
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a plurality of fault tolerant units;
a wire-based communication bus over which said fault tolerant units communicate;
at least one radio transceiver associated with each of the fault tolerant units; and
,the fault-tolerant units operable to communicate therebetween using the radio transceivers when a fault occurs in the wire-based communication bus. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. Control system having distributed architecture, comprising:
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a plurality of fault tolerant units;
at least one radio transceiver associated with each of the fault tolerant units; and
,the fault-tolerant units operable to communicate therebetween using the radio transceivers. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. Fault tolerant control system, comprising:
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a distributed architecture comprising a plurality of fault tolerant units;
a wire-based communication bus over which said fault tolerant units communicate;
predetermined ones of the fault tolerant units having at least one radio transceiver associated therewith; and
,the radio transceivers operable to communicate therebetween when a fault occurs in the wire-based communications bus. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. Method for effecting communications in a control system having a distributed architecture comprising a plurality of fault tolerant units having a wire-based communication bus over which said plurality of fault tolerant units communicate, comprising:
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equipping predetermined ones of the fault tolerant units and the wireless communications bus with radio transceivers; and
,communicating therebetween using the radio transceivers when a fault occurs in the wire-based communication bus.
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Specification