DIAGNOSING INTERMITTENT FAULTS
First Claim
1. A method for diagnosing any combination of persistent and intermittent faults or intermittent faults in a system, comprising:
- obtaining a behavior of a system by measuring or probing the system at particular points;
investigating a predicted behavior of a modeled system of the system by drawing inferences based on at least conditional probabilities, prior observations and component models of the modeled system;
comparing the predictions to their corresponding points in the system;
determining if conflicts or deviations exist between the measured behavior and the predicted behavior;
adjusting the conditional probabilities to more and more accurately reflect action faults in the system, so they will accept a possibility that a subsequent measurement and/or probing will produce a different value or output; and
using the conflicts or deviations between the predicted behavior and the actual behavior to obtain a final result based on a new value or output.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and system for diagnosing any combination of persistent and intermittent faults. The behavior of a system under test is obtained by measuring or probing the system at a particular location(s). The predicted behavior of a modeled system corresponding to the system under test is investigated by drawing inferences based on at least conditional probabilities, prior observations and component models. The predictions are compared to their corresponding points in the system under test. A determination is made if a conflict exists between the measured behavior and the predicted behavior, and the conditional probabilities are adjusted to more and more accurately reflect the action fault(s) in the system under test. The conflicts or deviations between the obtained predicted behavior and the actual behavior are used to isolate the components of the system causing the faults.
26 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method for diagnosing any combination of persistent and intermittent faults or intermittent faults in a system, comprising:
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obtaining a behavior of a system by measuring or probing the system at particular points; investigating a predicted behavior of a modeled system of the system by drawing inferences based on at least conditional probabilities, prior observations and component models of the modeled system; comparing the predictions to their corresponding points in the system; determining if conflicts or deviations exist between the measured behavior and the predicted behavior; adjusting the conditional probabilities to more and more accurately reflect action faults in the system, so they will accept a possibility that a subsequent measurement and/or probing will produce a different value or output; and using the conflicts or deviations between the predicted behavior and the actual behavior to obtain a final result based on a new value or output. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 11)
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8. A method of troubleshooting a real world system having multiple components, and containing any combination of intermittent or non-intermittent faults, the method comprising:
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generating a model of the real world system, the system model including multiple model components; associating with each model component of the system model, two probabilities, (1) a probability the real world component deviates from its design such that it may exhibit a malfunction, and (2) (for potentially intermittent components) a conditional probability the faulted component malfunctions when observed; recalculating the conditional probabilities associated with possible fault causes, to guide a next stage of observation and/or measurement; undertaking a next stage of observation and/or measurement; determining when enough data has been obtained; and reaching a final result. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A computer program product for use with a computing device, the computer product comprising:
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a computer useable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein for, diagnosing any combination of persistent and intermittent faults or intermittent faults in a system by, obtaining a behavior of a system by measuring or probing the system at particular points; investigating a predicted behavior of a modeled system of the system by drawing inferences based on at least conditional probabilities, prior observations and component models; comparing the predictions to their corresponding points in the system; determining if conflicts or deviations exist between the measured behavior and the predicted behavior; adjusting the conditional probabilities to more and more accurately reflect action faults in the system, so they will accept a possibility that a subsequent measurement will produce a different value; and using the conflicts or deviations between the predicted behavior and the actual behavior to obtain a final result based on a new value or output. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification