System and method for providing a data structure representative of a fault tree
First Claim
1. An apparatus, comprising:
- a processor; and
a memory comprising program instructions executable by the processor to implement a data structure representing a fault tree for a system;
wherein said data structure comprises indications of a plurality of events;
wherein the indications of the events are linked in the data structure according to propagations in the fault tree, each event being classified as one of at least three possible event types;
a problem event, representing an underlying cause of misbehaviour in the system;
an error event, representing an error in the system comprising an incorrect signal or datum; and
a report event, representing the formal detection by the system of an error;
wherein at least one of each of the at least three possible three event types are indicated in said data structure;
wherein each propagation in the fault tree denotes a cause and effect linkage from one event to another event; and
wherein there are no propagations within the fault tree to a problem event.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
One embodiment of the invention provides apparatus including a data structure representing a fault tree for a system. The data structure comprises a plurality of events linked by propagations. Each event is classified as one of at least three possible event types. A first type of event is a problem event, which represents an underlying cause of misbehavior in the system. A second type of event is an error event, which represents an error in the system comprising an incorrect signal or datum. A third type of event is a report event, representing the formal detection by the system of an error. Each propagation in the fault tree denotes a cause and effect linkage from one event to another event. There are no propagations within the fault tree to a problem event.
-
Citations
49 Claims
-
1. An apparatus, comprising:
-
a processor; and a memory comprising program instructions executable by the processor to implement a data structure representing a fault tree for a system; wherein said data structure comprises indications of a plurality of events; wherein the indications of the events are linked in the data structure according to propagations in the fault tree, each event being classified as one of at least three possible event types; a problem event, representing an underlying cause of misbehaviour in the system; an error event, representing an error in the system comprising an incorrect signal or datum; and a report event, representing the formal detection by the system of an error; wherein at least one of each of the at least three possible three event types are indicated in said data structure; wherein each propagation in the fault tree denotes a cause and effect linkage from one event to another event; and wherein there are no propagations within the fault tree to a problem event. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
-
-
22. An apparatus, comprising:
-
a processor; and a memory comprising program instructions executable by the processor to implement a data structure representing a fault tree for a system; wherein said data structure comprises indications of a plurality of events; wherein the indications of the events are linked in the data structure according to propagations in the fault tree; wherein each propagation in the fault tree denotes a cause and effect linkage from one event to another event; and wherein one or more propagations from an event are associated with an effect specifier, said effect specifier denoting the minimum number of said one or more propagations that occur in response to said event.
-
-
23. An apparatus, comprising:
-
a processor; and a memory comprising program instructions executable by the processor to implement a data structure representing a fault tree for a system; wherein said data structure comprises indications of a plurality of events; wherein the indications of the events are linked in the data structure according to propagations in the fault tree; wherein each propagation in the fault tree denotes a cause and effect linkage from one event to another event; and wherein one or more propagations to an event are associated with a cause specifier, said cause specifier denoting the minimum number of said one or more propagations that must occur together for said event to occur.
-
-
24. An apparatus, comprising:
-
a processor; and a memory comprising program instructions executable by the processor to implement a data structure representing a fault tree for a system; wherein said data structure comprises indications of a plurality of events; wherein the indications of the events are linked in the data structure according to propagations in the fault tree; wherein each propagation in the fault tree denotes a cause and effect linkage from one event to another event; and
wherein;one or more propagations from an event are associated with an effect specifier, said effect specifier denoting the number of said one or more propagations that occur in response to said event, and one or more propagations to an event are associated with a cause specifier, said cause specifier denoting the number of said one or more propagations to an event that must occur for said event to occur. - View Dependent Claims (25)
-
-
26. An apparatus, comprising:
-
a processor; and a memory comprising program instructions executable by the processor to implement a data structure representing a fault tree for a system; wherein said data structure comprises indications of a plurality of events; wherein the indications of the events are linked in the data structure according to propagations in the fault tree; wherein each propagation in the fault tree denotes a cause and effect linkage from one event to another event; and wherein at least one event in the fault tree has; a first propagation to the event, wherein said first propagation acts to cause the event to occur; and a second propagation to the event, wherein said second propagation inhibits the event from occurring, and wherein the inhibiting of said second propagation takes precedence over the causing of the first propagation. - View Dependent Claims (27)
-
-
28. A computer readable storage medium, comprising program instructions computer-executable to implement a data structure representing a fault tree for a system;
-
wherein said data structure comprises indications of a plurality of events; wherein the indications of the events are linked in the data structure according to propagations in the fault tree, each event being classified as one of at least three possible event types; a problem event, representing an underlying cause of misbehaviour in the system; an error event, representing an error in the system comprising an incorrect signal or datum; and a report event, representing the formal detection by the system of an error; wherein at least one of each of the at least three possible three event types are indicated in said data structure; wherein each propagation in the fault tree denotes a cause and effect linkage from one event to another event; and wherein there are no propagations within the fault tree to a problem event.
-
-
29. A computer-implemented method for providing a data structure representing a fault tree for a system, said method including:
-
defining a set of events that may occur within the fault tree, each event in the fault tree being classified as one of at least three possible event types; a problem event, representing an underlying cause of misbehaviour in the system; an error event, representing an error in the system comprising an incorrect signal or datum; and a report event, representing the formal detection by the system of an error; specifying propagations between said events; and storing the data structure in a memory accessible by a system processor or application specific integrated circuit of a computer system; wherein at least one of each of the at least three possible three event types are indicated in said data structure; wherein a propagation in the fault tree denotes a cause and effect linkage from one event to another event; and wherein there are no propagations within the fault tree to a problem event. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49)
-
Specification