Alarm Signal Indicator Display Under Time Budget Constraints
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing management systems for technical facilities face performance losses and failure in control and monitoring due to long-lasting volatility or high emergence of alarm signals, which can exceed the available time for visualization, leading to inefficiencies in process-engineering facilities.
Innovation Solution
A management system with an operator station server that includes a computer-implemented alarm signal service, which communicates a time budget to the operator station client for displaying alarm signals, allowing it to determine if the display time would exceed the allowed duration and limit the visual display accordingly, ensuring dynamic reaction to changing demands and preventing temporary failures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If the operator station client displays all alarm signals without limitation, then the completeness of alarm information is improved, but the system performance and availability deteriorate due to time budget exhaustion
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies partial action by selectively limiting the display of alarm signals based on the time budget. Instead of displaying all alarm signals without restriction, the system displays only those that can be rendered within the allocated time budget, preventing performance overload while maintaining essential alarm information visibility
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts the alarm signal display based on real-time conditions. The operator station client determines whether to limit display based on current time budget availability and alarm signal characteristics, making the display behavior adaptive rather than static
2Productivity
If the operator station client processes high emergence of alarm signals, then the comprehensiveness of monitoring is improved, but the system reaches performance limits and fails
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs partial processing of alarm signals by evaluating each alarm signal against the time budget constraint. When the time budget is limited, the system processes only a subset of alarm signals rather than attempting to process all signals, preventing system failure while maintaining monitoring of critical alarms
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements prior cushioning by pre-defining a time budget for alarm signal display before the actual display process begins. This time budget acts as a protective constraint that prevents the system from being overwhelmed by high alarm emergence, cushioning the system against performance overload
3Loss of information
If the alarm signal indicator displays detailed information, then the information quality is improved, but the display time exceeds the available time budget
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies partial action by selectively displaying alarm signal information based on time budget availability. Instead of always displaying complete detailed information, the system displays the necessary level of detail that fits within the time budget, balancing information quality with time constraints
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter of display time by introducing a time budget constraint. This parameter change allows the system to adjust the amount of information displayed based on available time, transforming the display behavior from unlimited to time-bound
Data Source
AI summary
A method for visually displaying a facility mimic diagram of a technical facility which has an operator station server and an operator station client, wherein the method includes transferring the facility mimic diagram from the operator station server to the operator station client, where the facility mimic diagram includes an alarm signal indicator, communicating a duration for visually displaying the indicator, visually displaying the facility mimic diagram with the alarm signal indicator, informing the operator station client about an emergence of a new alarm signal in the management system via a message, determining a value an actual display time has to visually display the alarm signal indicator, determining whether a display time for the visual display of the alarm signal indicator with the new alarm signal would overshoot the value of the duration, limiting the visual display of the alarm signal indicator when the available duration is overshot.