Measurement Device Dual Data Acquisition Circuits Fault Tolerance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing measurement devices on aircraft surfaces fail to recover data from most sensors when a control circuit fails, leading to data loss from connected sensors.
Innovation Solution
A measurement device with a substrate featuring hierarchized buses, including two data communication buses and an internal data acquisition bus, where sensors transmit data to both surrounding control circuits, allowing neighboring control circuits to take over in case of a failure, ensuring continuous data communication.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a single data communication bus is used to connect sensors to control circuits, then the device complexity is reduced, but the reliability deteriorates because data cannot be recovered when a control circuit fails
Solution Approach 1:
The data communication system is segmented into multiple independent buses (first data communication bus and second data communication bus) that operate in parallel. Each bus can independently transmit sensor data to control circuits, so that when one bus or its associated control circuit fails, the other bus remains functional and can recover the lost data.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements redundant data transmission paths before failure can occur. By establishing multiple communication buses in advance, the system creates a cushion against potential failures, ensuring that data recovery is possible even when a control circuit or single bus fails.
2Reliability
If sensors transmit data to only one control circuit, then the loss of information is minimized in normal operation, but the reliability worsens because all data is lost when that control circuit fails
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple data transmission paths are merged into a unified architecture where sensors can transmit data through either the first or second data communication bus to respective control circuits. This merging creates redundancy without requiring complete duplication of the entire system, as the buses share common infrastructure where possible.
Solution Approach 2:
The control circuits are designed with multi-functionality, capable of receiving and processing data from multiple sources (both buses). Each control circuit can serve as a backup for the other, allowing any control circuit to take over data acquisition responsibilities if its paired control circuit fails.
3Reliability
If dual data communication buses are implemented with sensors linked to both surrounding control circuits, then the reliability improves for data recovery, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The redundant bus architecture implements local quality by providing different levels of redundancy at different locations in the system. Sensors are connected to local control circuits through both buses, creating local redundancy that can be activated only when needed, rather than requiring uniform high-level redundancy throughout the entire system.
Data Source
AI summary
A measurement device includes a substrate having accommodations with an emerging opening in which sensors are provided, the substrate including a cavity with a flexible printed circuit. The device is installed on a surface to characterize a fluid flow at this surface. The circuit uses hierarchized buses comprising two data communication buses emerging at the two longitudinal ends of the substrate and an internal data acquisition bus, the bus linking control circuits, each control circuit being connected to one of the communication buses, the sensors being connected to the bus in a distributed fashion on either side of each control circuit. The data from the sensors can be transmitted to the two surrounding circuits and may be acquired if one of them is faulty.