Provision of diagnosis information

• US 20060259243A1
• Filed: 08/24/2004
• Published: 11/16/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 09/19/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Siemens AG
• Original Assignee: Siemens AG
• Inventors: Feld, Joachim, Bregulla, Markus, Großmann, Daniel, Schlereth, Michael, Dinges, Clemens, Buesgen, Ralph
• Granted Patent: US 7,774,167 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 702/19
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/0251 Abstraction hierarchy, e.g. "complex systems", i.e. system is divided in subsystems, subsystems are monitored and results are combined to decide on status of whole system
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 3/00 Registering or indicating the condition or the working of machines or other apparatus, other than vehicles

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for generating a system for providing diagnosis information, and to a corresponding system. The aim of the invention is to simplify the provision of information for diagnosing technical installations or technical processes. To this end, components pertaining to an automation system and having diagnosis interfaces for providing diagnosis information for diagnosing the respective components are collected in at least one group, and the diagnosis information of the respective group is provided by combining the diagnosis information of the components collected in the respective group.

Claims

1-22. -22. (canceled)

23. A method of providing diagnosis information for an automation system, comprising:

providing a plurality of components of an automation system, at least a part of the components each comprising a diagnosis interface for transmitting diagnosis information related to the respective component;

forming at least one component group including the part of the components;

interrelating the diagnosis information of the part of the components to form a group diagnosis information; and

providing the group diagnosis information.

24. The method in accordance with claim 23, further comprising:

forming a higher-ranking group by assigning at least one of the component groups and/or individual components to the higher-ranking group; and

interrelating the group diagnosis information of the assigned component groups and/or the diagnosis information of the assigned individual components to form a higher-ranking group diagnosis information.

25. The method in accordance with claim 23, wherein the components are part of an installation layout, and the group diagnosis information is formed based on the installation layout.

26. The method in accordance with claim 25, wherein the installation layout includes tasks and a networking plan of the components.

27. The method in accordance with claim 25, wherein the installation layout includes a definition of which component groups and/or which individual components are part of a higher-ranking group.

28. The method in accordance with claim 23, wherein the diagnosis information of each component included in the part of the components has the same semantic structure.

29. The method in accordance with claim 23, wherein the diagnosis information includes rules for logically combining input variables and for providing at least one output variable based on the combined input variables.

30. The method in accordance with claim 23, wherein the components and the component groups are assigned to classes, each class defining functions and attributes of the assigned components respectively groups.

31. A system for providing diagnosis information of an automation system, wherein

the automation system has a plurality components,

at least a part of the components each comprise a diagnosis interface for transmitting diagnosis information related to the respective component, and

at least one component group including the part of the components is formed, the system comprising a computing unit configured to interrelate the diagnosis information of the part of the components to form a group diagnosis information.

32. The system in accordance with claim 31, wherein a higher-ranking group is formed by assigning at least one of the component groups and/or individual components to the higher-ranking group, and the computing unit is further configured to interrelate the group diagnosis information of the assigned component groups and/or the diagnosis information of the assigned individual components to form a higher-ranking group diagnosis information.

33. The system in accordance with claim 31, wherein the components are part of an installation layout, and the group diagnosis information is formed based on the installation layout.

34. The system in accordance with claim 33, wherein the installation layout includes tasks and a networking plan of the components.

35. The system in accordance with claim 33, wherein the installation layout includes a definition of which component groups and/or which individual components are part of a higher-ranking group.

36. The system in accordance with claim 31, wherein the diagnosis information of each component included in the part of the components has the same semantic structure.

37. The system in accordance with claim 31, wherein the diagnosis information includes rules for logically combining input variables and for providing at least one output variable based on the combined input variables.

38. The system in accordance with claim 31, wherein the components and the component groups are assigned to classes, each class defining functions and attributes of the assigned components respectively groups.

39. The system in accordance with claim 33, further comprising a display device for visualizing the diagnosis information based on the installation layout.