Fire-prevention Control Unit with Dual Logic Units
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Solution Overview
Problem
Fire-prevention control units in the state of the art face limitations due to excessive hardware resources, increased costs, and potential malfunctions from faults in multiple circuit boards, which compromise safety and efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A fire-prevention control unit is designed with each circuit board featuring two identical and physically distinct functional logic units for native redundancy, allowing one unit to take over in case of failure without increasing the number of boards, combined with a dual communication bus for non-blocking operation and dynamic resource management.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the number of circuit boards is increased to ensure system safety and reliability, then the system reliability is improved, but the device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges two functional logic units onto a single circuit board, creating an integrated redundant system. Instead of using separate standby boards, the invention combines the functions of multiple boards into one unified board with dual logic units, thereby reducing overall system complexity while maintaining safety requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
Each circuit board in the invention is designed to perform multiple functions through its two functional logic units. The board can operate in normal mode with both units active, or switch to standby mode where one unit takes over from a failed unit, making the board universally capable of handling various operational states without requiring additional specialized boards.
2Reliability
If the number of circuit boards is increased to provide hot standby capability, then the system reliability is improved, but the manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention combines hot standby capability into a single circuit board by integrating two functional logic units on the same board. This eliminates the need to manufacture and stock additional separate standby boards, reducing manufacturing costs while maintaining the hot standby functionality required for system reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a functional copy of the logic unit within the same board rather than requiring a physical duplicate board. The second functional logic unit serves as an on-board copy that can immediately take over in case of failure, providing hot standby capability without the cost of additional hardware manufacturing.
3Reliability
If the number of circuit boards is increased to ensure correct data processing, then the system reliability is improved, but the maintenance complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
By merging two functional logic units onto a single board, the invention reduces the total number of components that require maintenance. Instead of potentially having multiple separate boards that could fail, the system has fewer physical components to monitor and repair, simplifying maintenance while ensuring data processing correctness through redundant logic units.
Data Source
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AI summary
Fire-prevention control unit comprising several circuit boards and a dedicated communication bus (2) for communication between said circuit boards, said circuit boards comprising at least one processing board (1), at least one input board (3) and at least one output board (4). Said at least one processing board (1) is intended to process input data received from said at least one input board (3) and to generate commands to send to said at least one output board (4), said at least one input board (3) and said at least one output board (4) being intended to communicate with one or more devices to be monitored or controlled. Each circuit board has two identical and physically distinct functional logic units, said functional logic units being adapted to perform the same function, each functional logic unit having means for direct communication with the communication bus (2) according to a configurable architecture. Reliability is increased by providing identical redundant functional units (realised e.g. as FPGA) in the processing, input and output circuit boards.