Apparatus and method for analyzing multiple fault occurrence of multiple-state device

• US 8,793,048 B2
• Filed: 12/26/2007
• Issued: 07/29/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/26/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ent Services Development Corporation LP (DXC Technology Company)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Mathews, Thomas E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Khatib, Rami
• Application Number:
  US11/964,488
• Publication Number:
  US 20090171527A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,407 Days
• Field of Search: 701/29, 701/30, 701/31, 701/35, 701/51, 701/29.1, 701/29.2, 701/29.4, 701/29.6, 701/31.6, 701/31.8, 701/31.9, 701/32.1, 701/32.8, 701/34.4, 702/186, 475/119, 477/34
• US Class Current: 701/31.6
• CPC Class Codes: F16H 61/12 Detecting malfunction or potential malfunction, e.g. fail safe in control of hydrostatic gearing F16H61/4192; Circumventing or fixing failures
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/0278 Qualitative, e.g. if-then rules; Fuzzy logic; Lookup tables; Symptomatic search; FMEA

Abstract

Apparatus, and an associated method, for analyzing operation of a multiple-state device, such as a vehicular automatic transmission under multiple-fault occurrence. An identifier identifies all possible path sequences of an initial state responsive to occurrence of all possible faults and all possible remediation actions. The paths are identified for a multiple-fault occurrence of two or more faults. For each of the possible paths, a hazard level is assigned, and the hazard levels are sorted to obtain preferred path sequences. Analysis of the possible paths and their associated hazard levels is made, and a state control scheme is formulated.

Claims

1. An apparatus for facilitating analysis of a multiple-state device responsive to multiple fault occurrence, said apparatus comprising:

an identifier module in an electronic control device configured to automatically identify, during operation of the multiple-state device and in response to an occurrence of multiple detected faults in said multiple state device, a plurality of automatic remediation actions available to the multiple state device for states of the multiple-state device and fault occurrences possible at the states; and

a hazard scorer module in said electronic control device configured to automatically provide a representation of a hazard level associated with each available remediation action,

in which a hazard level represents an indicia of potential deleterious results that may occur due to operation of the multiple-state device in a state defined by the remediation action.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the multiple-state device comprises an automotive transmission and wherein said identifier is configured to identify, for states of the automotive transmission and fault occurrences possible at the states, the available remediation actions.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the states of the automotive transmission comprise gear-position-associated states.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said identifier module is further configured to identify each remediation state associated with each available remediation action.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the fault occurrences possible at the states further comprise sequential fault occurrences and wherein said identifier module is further configured to identify fault occurrences possible at each remediation state.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein said identifier module is further configured to identify available remediation action for each remediation state and fault occurrences possible at each remediation state.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the representation of the hazard level provided by said hazard scorer is further associated with each available remediation action for each remediation state.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the representation of the hazard level is of a value responsive to at least one of:

a value identifying a hazard associated with the available remediation action; and

a value identifying a hazard associated with erroneous undertaking of the available remediation action.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said identifier module and said hazard scorer module are configured to operate iteratively.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the representation of the hazard level provided by said hazard scorer is representative of an available remediation action subsequent to the multiple fault occurrence.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the multiple fault occurrence comprises successive faults from successive device states.

12. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a sorter module to sort representations of hazard levels associated with the remediation actions.

13. A method for facilitating analysis of a multiple-state device responsive to multiple fault occurrence, said method comprising:

responsive to an occurrence of multiple detected faults in said multiple state device and during operation of the multiple-state device, identifying with an electronic control device a plurality of automatic remediation actions available to the multiple state device for states of the multiple-state device and fault occurrences at the states; and

automatically providing a representation of a hazard level associated with each available remediation action with said electronic control device,

in which a hazard level represents an indicia of potential deleterious results that may occur due to operation of the multi-state device in a state defined by the remediation action, and

in which the remediation action taken is a change in a current operation of an apparatus operated by the multiple-state device.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein said identifying comprises identifying available remediation action subsequent to the multiple fault occurrence.

15. The method of claim 14 where the multiple fault occurrence comprises occurrence of sequential faults.

16. The method of claim 13 wherein said identifying and said providing are performed iteratively.

17. The method of claim 13 wherein the representation of the hazard level is further of a value responsive to

a value identifying a hazard associated with the available remediation action.

18. The method of claim 17 further comprising the operations of:

comparing, with said electronic control device, the value identifying the hazard associated with the available remediation action and the value identifying the hazard associated with the erroneous undertaking; and

selecting, with said electronic control device, the representation of the hazard level responsive to comparisons made during said comparing.

19. The method of claim 13, further comprising sorting, with said electronic control device, representations of hazard levels associated with the remediation actions.

20. An electronic multiple failure mode analyzer for analyzing a multiple-state, vehicular transmission under a multiple fault condition, said analyzer comprising:

electronic processing circuitry implementing;

a modeler configured to model, for each state of the multiple-state vehicular transmission, every possible multiple fault condition and available remediation action responsive thereto;

a hazard level assignor configured to assign a hazard level for each possible multiple fault condition and available remediation action responsive thereto;

a hazard scorer to;

compare a value identifying a hazard associated with the available remediation action and a value identifying a hazard associated with an erroneous undertaking; and

select the representation of the hazard level responsive to comparisons made during said comparing,

in which a hazard level represents an indicia of potential deleterious results that may occur due to operation of the multi-state device in a state defined by the remediation action, and

in which the remediation action taken is a change in the operation of an apparatus operated by the multiple-state device.