Reconfigurable Software Mode Management Table
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current software mode management systems require extensive modifications and re-uploading of entire code for minor changes, making them time-consuming and costly, as they need to scan and replace the entire software code even for trivial changes, such as parameter adjustments.
Innovation Solution
A reconfigurable Software Mode Management (SMM) system that uses a separate table to manage mode transitions and parameter settings, allowing logic functions and values to be modified independently of the primary software algorithm, enabling changes without revising the entire code, and allowing the primary controller to focus on mode determination rather than data retrieval from secondary controllers.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the entire software code is scanned and replaced for mode management modifications, then the software mode management can be updated, but the time and cost for making changes increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The software system is segmented into distinct components: the primary software algorithm and the software mode management algorithm. This segmentation allows modifications to be made independently in the mode management algorithm without requiring changes to the entire software codebase, thereby reducing update time and cost while maintaining adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The software mode management algorithm is extracted as a separate, independent component from the primary software algorithm. This extraction enables the mode management functionality to be modified, updated, or replaced without affecting or requiring changes to the primary control algorithms, thus resolving the contradiction between update capability and update cost/time.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the entire software code is scanned and replaced for mode management modifications, then the software mode management can be updated, but the cost of making changes increases
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the software into separate functional modules (primary algorithm and mode management algorithm), the cost of modifications is reduced because only the mode management portion needs to be updated, not the entire software system. This segmentation makes the system more cost-effective to modify while maintaining full adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
Extracting the mode management algorithm as an independent component reduces modification costs by isolating the change-prone functionality from the stable primary control algorithms. This allows cost-effective updates to mode management without requiring expensive full-system revalidation and re-deployment.
3Ease of operation
If the primary controller includes algorithms to retrieve data from secondary controllers, then data can be obtained, but the complexity of the primary software algorithm increases
Solution Approach 1:
Data retrieval algorithms for secondary controllers are extracted from the primary software algorithm and placed in the separate mode management algorithm. This extraction reduces the complexity of the primary controller's software while maintaining the capability to retrieve necessary data, as the mode management component handles the data acquisition independently.
Solution Approach 2:
The mode management algorithm acts as an intermediary between the primary controller and secondary controllers for data retrieval. This intermediary approach allows the primary controller to maintain simplicity while still accessing data from secondary controllers through the mediating mode management layer, which handles the complexity of data acquisition.
Data Source
AI summary
A method and architecture of reconfiguring software mode management for a system. A prior status mode of a subsystem is identified. The primary controller includes a primary software algorithm for maintaining operations of the subsystem. A mode determination logic function is retrieved in a table for determining whether a mode change occurred. The mode determination logic function associated with the prior mode is executed. A current mode is determined from the table based on results from the execution of the mode determination logic function. An action list associated with the identified current mode in the table is identified. The action list identifies functions for transitioning the nodes from the prior mode to the current node. An action list associated with the current mode including a list of action functions for transitioning the previous mode to the current mode is executed. The table is independently modifiable from the primary software mode management algorithm.