Dynamic error code, fault location, and test and troubleshooting user experience correlation/visualization systems and methods

• US 9,983,919 B2
• Filed: 03/18/2016
• Issued: 05/29/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 05/19/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: the united states of america as represented by the secretary of the navy
• Original Assignee: the united states of america as represented by the secretary of the navy
• Inventors: Ly, Paul
• Primary Examiner(s): Duncan, Marc
• Application Number:
  US15/074,517
• Publication Number:
  US 20160342451A1
• Time in Patent Office: 802 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0739 in a data processing system embedded in automotive or aircraft systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0769 Readable error formats, e.g. cross-platform generic formats, human understandable formats
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/079 Root cause analysis, i.e. error or fault diagnosis in a hardware test environment G06F11/22; in a software test environment G06F11/36

Abstract

An apparatus and method for testing and troubleshooting systems, such as remote systems, have been developed that provide for a test control system configured to perform testing on a system under test. The test control system may include an electronic device operable to display a system fault code failure matrix visualization that may include fault codes and/or fault locations for one or more subsystems of a SUT. The test control system may also include an aggregated subsystem fault locations database that stores previously identified system or subsystem fault locations of the SUT that may lead to a source of an issue causing a particular fault code for the SUT, where the electronic device is operable to access the aggregated subsystem fault locations database to obtain the various previously identified fault locations. The previously identified system or subsystem fault locations may be based on previous testing of a system or subsystem.

Claims

1. A fault diagnostic system comprising:

a test system configured to perform testing on a system under test (SUT) to produce one or more fault codes (FC) in response to a system failure of the SUT; and

a diagnostic system comprising a display, a processor, and a storage medium operable to store a plurality of machine readable instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to generate a first, second, third, and fourth user experience (UX) and visualization on said display configured to graphically and textually interact with an operator using a plurality of graphical user interface (GUI) elements, wherein said first UX/visualization comprises a flow chart visualization comprising a plurality of troubleshooting steps, said second UX/visualization comprises a first system block diagram at a center section comprising a plurality of subsystems for the SUT and a plurality of first fault code fault location matrixes (FCFLM) associated with each said plurality of subsystems displayed around a periphery of the first system block diagram, wherein each FCFLM comprises a plurality of fault codes (FC) and related fault locations (FL) which are associated with previously identified FLs which have been a source of the FC as recorded by previous test and troubleshooting (TTA) activities, said third UX/visualization comprises a detail view of said FCFLM comprising said FCs and FLs, and said fourth UX/visualization comprises a search GUI associated with an element of said first UX/visualization process flow chart which enables a user to input a FC which then toggles to one of said third UX/visualizations associated with an input FC, wherein said first UX/visualization is configured to toggle between said first UX/visualization and said second through fourth UX/visualizations, said first UX/visualization is further configured to present a GUI element which selects or deselects a FL associated with a FC input so as to permit a reselection of a FC to generate a new FC/FL FCFLM display element if a previously selected FC/FL is determined not to clear a fault.

2. A process for performing diagnostics comprising:

providing a test system configured to perform testing on a system under test (SUT) to produce one or more fault codes (FC) in response to a system failure of the SUT;

providing a diagnostic system comprising a display, a storage medium operable to store a plurality of machine readable instructions that when executed by a processor cause the processor to generate a first, second, third, and fourth user experience (UX) and visualization on said display configured to graphically and textually interact with an operator using a plurality of graphical user interface (GUI) elements, wherein said first UX/visualization comprises a flow chart visualization comprising a plurality of troubleshooting steps, said second UX/visualization comprises a first system block diagram at a center section comprising a plurality of subsystems for the SUT and a plurality of first fault code fault location matrixes (FCFLM) associated with each said plurality of subsystems displayed around a periphery of the first system block diagram, wherein each FCFLM comprises a plurality of fault codes (FC) and related fault locations (FL) which are associated with previously identified FLs which have been a source of the FC as recorded by previous test and troubleshooting (TTA) activities, said third UX/visualization comprises a detail view of said FCFLM comprising said FCs and FLs, and said fourth UX/visualization comprises a search GUI associated with an element of said first UX/visualization process flow chart which enables a user to input a FC which then toggles to one of said third UX/visualizations associated with an input FC, wherein said first UX/visualization is configured to toggle between said first UX/visualization and said second through fourth UX/visualizations, said first UX/visualization is further configured to present a GUI element which selects or deselects a FL associated with a FC input so as to permit a reselection of a FC to generate a new FC/FL FCFLM display element if a previously selected FC/FL is determined not to clear a fault; and

operating said test system and said diagnostic system on a SUT to determine a fault based on FC/FL identified TT As and determining that a TT A and corrective action at a selected FL has cleared the fault code by rerunning said test system which does not produce a previously displayed FC.

3. The process of claim 2, further comprising:

attempting TTAs and corrective actions at all FC/FLs shown by said first through fourth UX/visualizations and said test system continues to determine that the previously displayed FC continues to exist;

performing additional TTAs based on diagnostics from a source outside the diagnostic system and identifying a cause of the FC and successfully performing corrective action to clear the FC; and

adding a new FC/FL based on the additional TTA information to a diagnostic system'"'"'s database containing the FC/FL correlation data.