Analog Backup Control for Engine Cyber Resilience
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Solution Overview
Problem
Embedded systems, such as aircraft engine control systems, are vulnerable to cyberattacks, which can lead to catastrophic failures, and traditional digital backup systems may also be compromised, posing a risk to system integrity during hostile events like EMP or nuclear incidents.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating isolated analog backup components that can take over control from compromised digital components, providing a one-way switch to analog control to prevent further disruption and ensuring robustness against cyberattacks and electromagnetic pulses.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Extent of automation
If digital control units are used to control engine components, then control precision and automation are improved, but vulnerability to cyberattacks and electromagnetic disruptions increases
Solution Approach 1:
The control system is divided into separate digital and analog control units. The digital control unit handles normal automated control operations, while the analog control unit serves as an isolated backup system that can take over if the digital system is compromised. This segmentation allows the system to maintain automation benefits while reducing vulnerability through physical and functional separation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the operational parameter from purely digital control to a hybrid digital-analog control architecture. By introducing analog control as a backup mode, the system alters its control parameter state to resist electromagnetic disruptions and cyberattacks that target digital systems, thereby improving reliability while preserving automation capabilities.
2Reliability
If digital backup systems are implemented, then system redundancy is improved, but susceptibility to electromagnetic pulses and nuclear incidents increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces digital electronic backup systems with analog control systems. Analog systems using traditional electrical signals are less susceptible to electromagnetic pulses and nuclear electromagnetic interference compared to digital systems with complex processing and communication interfaces. This substitution maintains redundancy while reducing vulnerability to electromagnetic harmful factors.
3Reliability
If analog backup components are added to the system, then resilience against cyberattacks is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The analog backup control unit is extracted as a separate, isolated system from the main digital control architecture. This extraction allows the analog backup to function independently without adding complexity to the primary digital control path. The analog system is only activated when the digital system fails or is compromised, thereby improving resilience while minimizing the impact on overall system complexity during normal operation.
Data Source
AI summary
A system is described that includes a controllable component of an engine configured to regulate fuel flow to the engine, a digital control unit configured to control the engine by at least communicating with the controllable component of the engine, and a protection component configured to disable communication between the digital control unit and the controllable component of the engine. The system further includes an analog control unit configured to control the engine by at least communicating with the controllable component of the engine in response to the protection component disabling communication between the digital control unit and the controllable component of the engine.