Dual-CPU Field Diagnostics for Rapid Failure Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing field devices, such as pressure gauges and flowmeters, face challenges in efficiently diagnosing failures in their central processing units (CPUs) within a short time frame.
Innovation Solution
A field device configuration with multiple CPUs, including a sensor, a first CPU performing arithmetic operations and fixed-cycle processing, and a second CPU that voluntarily receives sequence information from the first CPU to determine normal execution of fixed-cycle processing, allowing for failure diagnosis without explicit requests.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If a field device uses a single CPU for processing, then the device complexity is reduced, but the failure diagnosis time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the CPU system into two separate CPUs: a first CPU that performs normal processing and a second CPU that performs failure diagnosis. This segmentation allows the diagnosis function to operate independently and simultaneously with normal processing, reducing failure diagnosis time without significantly increasing overall device complexity since both CPUs work in parallel.
Solution Approach 2:
The first CPU voluntarily transmits sequence information to the second CPU without being requested, enabling the second CPU to perform diagnosis autonomously. This self-service mechanism ensures continuous monitoring and rapid failure detection without adding complex communication protocols or increasing diagnosis time.
2Reliability
If the first CPU performs fixed-cycle processing, then processing reliability is improved, but the diagnosis complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The first CPU voluntarily provides feedback in the form of sequence information to the second CPU, indicating the completion of fixed-cycle processing. This feedback mechanism allows the second CPU to verify processing reliability without adding complex diagnosis logic, as the sequence information naturally reflects the execution status of fixed-cycle operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The sequence information acts as an intermediary that carries diagnosis-relevant data from the first CPU to the second CPU. This intermediary mechanism simplifies the diagnosis process by providing ready-to-analyze information about fixed-cycle processing execution, reducing the complexity of direct monitoring while maintaining high reliability.
Data Source
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AI summary
In a field device (10), a sensor (101) measures a given physical quantity and outputs a sensor measurement value that is a value representing the measured physical quantity, a first CPU (102) performs a given arithmetic operation and given fixed-cycle processing on the sensor measurement value and voluntarily transmits sequence information containing a result of executing the fixed-cycle processing, and a second CPU (103) determines whether the first CPU (102) has a failure by determining whether the fixed-cycle processing is executed normally based on the sequence information.