Isolating Components for Fault Propagation in Vehicle Safety Systems
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current safety systems in vehicles face challenges in preventing the propagation of faults and dependent failure initiators between safety components, which can lead to hazardous events and non-compliance with functional safety standards like ISO 26262, particularly for ASIL D ratings where 99% of faults must be detected and addressed to ensure vehicle safety.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of isolating components, such as current and voltage isolating components, between safety components and control units to prevent fault propagation, ensuring that faults in one component do not affect others, thereby maintaining system integrity and compliance with safety standards by maintaining the input signal within specific voltage and current ranges during faulty conditions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If safety components are electrically coupled to a control unit via common leads, then device complexity is reduced, but fault propagation between safety components becomes possible
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the electrical coupling path into separate, isolated segments by providing individual electrical connections from the control unit to each safety component. This segmentation prevents fault propagation while maintaining a relatively simple overall structure by avoiding the need for complex isolation circuits in shared paths.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces isolating components as intermediaries in the electrical coupling path between the control unit and safety components. These intermediaries block fault propagation while allowing normal signal transmission, resolving the contradiction between simplicity and fault isolation.
2Reliability
If isolating components are added between control unit and safety components, then fault propagation is prevented, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the electrical connections into separate isolated paths, the patent reduces the need for complex isolation logic and circuitry. Each safety component gets its own direct connection path, simplifying the overall isolation architecture while maintaining high reliability.
3Speed
If fault propagation is allowed to occur, then system response time is faster, but hazardous events cannot be prevented
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the safety system into isolated functional units, allowing each component to detect and respond to faults independently without waiting for fault propagation to other components. This maintains fast response times while preventing hazardous events through contained fault isolation.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution effectively prevents fault propagation between safety components, ensuring continued operation in a fail-functional mode and compliance with stringent safety standards by isolating faults, thereby reducing the risk of hazardous events and maintaining system reliability.
Implementation Method 1
a first isolating component electrically disposed between and further coupling the control unit with the first component... configured to prevent a first IC fault arising with respect to the first component from propagating
Implementation Method 2
maintaining the input signal within specific voltage and current ranges during faulty conditions
Data Source
AI summary
The various embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to devices, systems and methods for mitigating fault propagation between two or more safety components. A system, for avoiding propagation of a fault between two or more safety components may include a control unit outputting an input signal, a first safety component electrically coupled to receive the input signal from the control unit; a second safety component electrically coupled to receive the input signal from the control unit; and a first isolating component electrically disposed between and further coupling the control unit with the first safety component. Each of the first safety component and the second safety component are electrically coupled to the control unit by at least a common lead. The first isolating component prevents a first IC fault arising with respect to the first safety component from propagating, via the input signal, to the second safety component.