Digital Twin Artificial Aging for Infrastructure Debugging

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Solution Overview

Problem

Debugging and predicting infrastructure behavior in customer-deployed environments is challenging due to the inability to accurately replicate customer environments and operational constraints, and limited access for infrastructure vendors.

Innovation Solution

The implementation of automated management techniques for virtual representations (digital twins) of infrastructure, allowing for artificial aging of these digital twins by applying datasets to simulate current or future states, thereby facilitating debugging and issue resolution.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Productivity

If digital twins are used to represent infrastructure, then infrastructure management efficiency is improved, but the ability to accurately replicate customer environments and operational constraints deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveinfrastructure management efficiencyVSAvoidaccuracy of environment replication

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary actions by capturing and storing operational constraints and environmental configurations before debugging sessions begin. This allows the digital twin to be pre-configured with accurate customer environment data, enabling more reliable replication of actual infrastructure conditions while maintaining high management efficiency.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system introduces an intermediary layer that bridges the digital twin and customer infrastructure. This intermediary captures and translates operational constraints and environmental data, allowing the digital twin to accurately reflect customer environments without requiring direct access to the actual infrastructure, thus maintaining both efficiency and accuracy.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Difficulty of detecting and measuring

If infrastructure vendors access customer environments for debugging, then issue identification is improved, but customer operation disruption increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveissue identification capabilityVSAvoidcustomer operation continuity

Core Design Contradiction:

Difficulty of detecting and measuringVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The system creates a copy of the customer infrastructure environment through the digital twin, which can be accessed and debugged without affecting the actual customer operations. Issues are identified in the replicated environment, allowing thorough investigation while maintaining customer service continuity.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #26Copying

Solution Approach 2:

The system performs preliminary debugging actions in the digital twin environment before any changes are applied to the actual customer infrastructure. This allows issues to be identified and resolved in advance, preventing disruptions to customer operations while maintaining strong issue identification capabilities.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

3Loss of time

If digital twins are artificially aged to predict future states, then predictive capability is improved, but computational resources required increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvepredictive time horizonVSAvoidcomputational resource consumption

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of timeVSUse of energy by moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The system applies partial aging by selectively advancing the digital twin to specific future time points or states that are most relevant for debugging, rather than continuously aging it. This reduces computational resource consumption while maintaining predictive capability for critical future states.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #16Partial or excessive action

Solution Approach 2:

The system performs preliminary artificial aging to predict potential future states and issues before they occur in the actual infrastructure. By proactively simulating future conditions, the system extends predictive time horizon while managing computational resources through targeted, rather than continuous, simulation.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentUS12287714B2Artificial aging of digital twin to debug infrastructure

Publication Date: 2025.04.29 DELL PROD LP

AI summary

Techniques for management of virtual representations (e.g., digital twins) of infrastructure are disclosed. For example, a method comprises obtaining at least one virtual representation of an infrastructure, wherein the virtual representation represents the infrastructure in a first state. The method further comprises applying at least one dataset to the virtual representation to artificially advance the virtual representation to represent the infrastructure in a second state. The method further comprises obtaining results representing the infrastructure in the second state, responsive to applying the at least one dataset to the virtual representation, wherein at least a portion of the results are indicative of an issue with the infrastructure, and then initiating one or more debugging actions with respect to the infrastructure to address the issue.