Functional relationship-based alarm processing system
First Claim
1. A system for monitoring a process characterized by a plurality of process alarms A and B each representing a respective operating state of said process as of primary importance or of secondary importance based upon functional relationships among said alarms, said system comprising:
- a plurality of detectors each responsive to a respective process alarm;
recording means coupled to said plurality of detectors for recording the occurrence of an alarm; and
signal processing means coupled to said recording means and responsive to the occurrence of an alarm recorded therein for evaluating the operating state of the process and assigning an importance to its associated alarm by defining each of the alarms A and B in terms of one of the following relationship categories;
alarm A is a level precursor of alarm B such that alarm A should occur before alarm B;
alarm A is a direct precursor of alarm B such that alarm A should occur before alarm B and alarm A'"'"'s occurrence implies alarm B'"'"'s occurrence;
alarm A is a priority required action of alarm B such that occurrence of alarm B should cause the activation of alarm A;
oralarm A is a blocking condition for alarm B such that, with both alarms A and B activated, alarm B will not be processed until alarm A is no longer activated, or clears; and
wherein primary importance is assigned to an activated alarm and secondary importance is assigned to that alarm which is not activated when one of the alarms is activated and the other alarm is not activated, and, where both alarm A and alarm B are activated, assigning primary importance to alarm B and secondary importance to alarm A where alarm A is a level precursor of alarm B or assigning primary importance to alarm A and secondary importance to alarm B for the remaining relationship categories between alarms A and B.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A functional relationship-based alarm processing system and method analyzes each alarm as it is activated and determines its relative importance with other currently activated alarms and signals in accordance with the functional relationships that the newly activated alarm has with other currently activated alarms. Once the initial level of importance of the alarm has been determined, that alarm is again evaluated if another related alarm is activated or deactivated. Thus, each alarm'"'"'s importance is continuously updated as the state of the process changes during a scenario. Four hierarchical relationships are defined by this alarm filtering methodology: (1) level precursor (usually occurs when there are two alarm settings on the same parameter); (2) direct precursor (based on causal factors between two alarms); (3) required action (system response or action expected within a specified time following activation of an alarm or combination of alarms and process signals); and (4) blocking condition (alarms that are normally expected and are not considered important). The alarm processing system and method is sensitive to the dynamic nature of the process being monitored and is capable of changing the relative importance of each alarm as necessary.
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Citations
29 Claims
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1. A system for monitoring a process characterized by a plurality of process alarms A and B each representing a respective operating state of said process as of primary importance or of secondary importance based upon functional relationships among said alarms, said system comprising:
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a plurality of detectors each responsive to a respective process alarm; recording means coupled to said plurality of detectors for recording the occurrence of an alarm; and signal processing means coupled to said recording means and responsive to the occurrence of an alarm recorded therein for evaluating the operating state of the process and assigning an importance to its associated alarm by defining each of the alarms A and B in terms of one of the following relationship categories; alarm A is a level precursor of alarm B such that alarm A should occur before alarm B; alarm A is a direct precursor of alarm B such that alarm A should occur before alarm B and alarm A'"'"'s occurrence implies alarm B'"'"'s occurrence; alarm A is a priority required action of alarm B such that occurrence of alarm B should cause the activation of alarm A;
oralarm A is a blocking condition for alarm B such that, with both alarms A and B activated, alarm B will not be processed until alarm A is no longer activated, or clears; and wherein primary importance is assigned to an activated alarm and secondary importance is assigned to that alarm which is not activated when one of the alarms is activated and the other alarm is not activated, and, where both alarm A and alarm B are activated, assigning primary importance to alarm B and secondary importance to alarm A where alarm A is a level precursor of alarm B or assigning primary importance to alarm A and secondary importance to alarm B for the remaining relationship categories between alarms A and B. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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Specification