Modular Plant Orchestration Verification Through Failure Modeling
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Integration testing of modular plants is challenging due to unforeseen scenarios during the integration of modules, leading to costly debugging and potential system failures, especially when service implementation details are not available, such as with third-party Module Type Packages (MTPs).
Innovation Solution
A method for verifying process orchestration logic in modular plants by generating a plant execution model, analyzing it to identify potential failure scenarios, and generating test cases based on these scenarios, which includes obtaining service execution models, modeling communications between services, and performing error propagation analysis to model and test error scenarios.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If integration testing is performed on modular plants with third-party MTPs, then system reliability is improved, but testing complexity and time increase due to unavailable service implementation details
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates execution models that are simplified copies of the actual modular plant system. These models replicate the essential behavior and interfaces of modules without requiring access to internal implementation details, enabling testing while avoiding the complexity of the full system.
Solution Approach 2:
The execution model acts as an intermediary between the test cases and the actual modular plant modules. It provides a layer that translates high-level test requirements into module-specific operations without needing to know the internal service implementation details of third-party modules.
2Measurement precision
If detailed service implementation information is obtained from third-party MTPs, then test accuracy improves, but ease of operation deteriorates due to restricted access to proprietary details
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of accessing actual service implementation details, the patent creates accurate behavioral copies through execution models. These models capture the essential input-output relationships and state transitions of modules without requiring proprietary internal information, maintaining test accuracy while preserving ease of operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The execution models are prepared in advance with pre-defined service behaviors and interfaces. This preliminary action allows testers to work with abstracted models rather than requiring access to detailed service implementations during the actual testing process.
3Reliability
If comprehensive error propagation analysis is performed, then reliability verification improves, but productivity decreases due to extensive analysis requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the error propagation analysis into hierarchical levels: plant-level execution models, module-level execution models, and service-level models. This segmentation allows error analysis to be performed at appropriate levels of abstraction, improving reliability verification without requiring exhaustive analysis of every detail, thus maintaining productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
Error propagation paths are pre-analyzed and modeled in the execution models before actual testing. This preliminary error analysis captures potential failure scenarios in advance, allowing comprehensive reliability verification during testing without performing extensive real-time analysis that would reduce productivity.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
There is provided a method (1300) for verifying process orchestration logic for a modular plant. The method comprises: generating (1302) a plant execution model representing the process orchestration logic; analyzing (1304) the plant execution model to identify one or more potential failure scenarios; and generating (1306) one or more test cases based on the one or more identified failure scenarios.