Detecting degradation of components during reliability-evaluation studies
First Claim
1. A method for determining the reliability of a component in a system, comprising:
- monitoring inferential variables associated with a number of specimens of the component during a reliability-evaluation study;
collecting degradation data by;
computing a likelihood value that indicates whether an inferential variable associated with a specimen of the component is behaving normally or abnormally;
determining whether the specimen of the component has degraded based on the likelihood value; and
if the specimen of the component is determined to have degraded, noting the time when the specimen of the component was determined to have degraded; and
generating a population-failure distribution for the number of specimens from the degradation data; and
using the population-failure distribution to generate a component-reliability model, wherein the component-reliability model is used to determine the reliability of the component past the point in time when the reliability-evaluation study was terminated for the number of specimens of the component.
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Accused Products
Abstract
One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that determines the reliability of a component in a system. During operation, the system monitors inferential variables associated with a number of specimens of the component. The system then collects degradation data by first computing a likelihood value that indicates whether an inferential variable associated with a specimen of the component is behaving normally or abnormally. Next, the system determines whether the specimen of the component has degraded based on the likelihood value. If the specimen of the component is determined to have degraded, the system records the time when the specimen of the component was determined to have degraded. The system also uses the degradation data to determine the reliability of the component in the system.
18 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method for determining the reliability of a component in a system, comprising:
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monitoring inferential variables associated with a number of specimens of the component during a reliability-evaluation study; collecting degradation data by; computing a likelihood value that indicates whether an inferential variable associated with a specimen of the component is behaving normally or abnormally; determining whether the specimen of the component has degraded based on the likelihood value; and if the specimen of the component is determined to have degraded, noting the time when the specimen of the component was determined to have degraded; and generating a population-failure distribution for the number of specimens from the degradation data; and using the population-failure distribution to generate a component-reliability model, wherein the component-reliability model is used to determine the reliability of the component past the point in time when the reliability-evaluation study was terminated for the number of specimens of the component. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. An apparatus for determining the reliability of a component in a system, comprising:
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a stress-test chamber configured to accommodate specimens of a component; a degradation-detection mechanism; wherein the degradation-detection mechanism is configured to; monitor inferential variables associated with a number of specimens of the component during a reliability-evaluation study; collect degradation data, wherein to collect degradation data, the degradation-detection mechanism is configured to; compute a likelihood value that indicates whether an inferential variable associated with a specimen of the component is behaving normally or abnormally; determine whether the specimen of the component has degraded based on the likelihood value; and if the specimen of the component is determined to have degraded, to note the time when the specimen of the component was determined to have degraded; and
togenerate a population-failure distribution for the number of specimens from the degradation data; and
touse the population-failure distribution to generate a component-reliability model, wherein the component-reliability model is used to determine the reliability of the component past the point in time when the reliability-evaluation study was terminated for the number of specimens of the component. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A computer system for determining the reliability of a component in a system, comprising:
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a stress-test chamber configured to accommodate specimens of a component; a degradation-detection mechanism; wherein the degradation-detection mechanism is configured to; monitor inferential variables associated with a number of specimens of the component during a reliability-evaluation study; collect degradation data, wherein to collect degradation data, the degradation-detection mechanism is configured to; compute a likelihood value that indicates whether an inferential variable associated with a specimen of the component is behaving normally or abnormally; determine whether the specimen of the component has degraded based on the likelihood value; and if the specimen of the component is determined to have degraded, to note the time when the specimen of the component was determined to have degraded; and
togenerate a population-failure distribution for the number of specimens from the degradation data; and
touse the population-failure distribution to generate a component-reliability model, wherein the component-reliability model is used to determine the reliability of the component past the point in time when the reliability-evaluation study was terminated for the number of specimens of the component. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification