Redundant Control Diagnostics via Hash Compression

Solution Overview

Problem

In redundant control apparatuses with two processing units, comparing a large quantity of input, intermediate, and output data to ensure data match and detect failures within a control cycle is inefficient, leading to reduced processing speed and reliability.

Innovation Solution

A redundant control apparatus with a diagnostics unit that compresses operation data using a hash function to generate summary information, allowing for parallel processing and comparison of compressed data between units, thereby maintaining processing speed while ensuring reliability.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If all input data, intermediate data and output data are compared to improve diagnostics reliability, then reliability improves, but processing time increases and processing speed falls

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvereliability of failure diagnosticsVSAvoidprocessing speed

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The invention extracts only the essential diagnostic information from the complete operation data by generating hash values. Instead of comparing all input, intermediate, and output data, the system computes hash values from these data and compares only the hash values, thereby extracting the critical diagnostic element while discarding redundant data for the comparison process.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The invention transforms the operation data into a different parameter form (hash values) that preserves the diagnostic information while significantly reducing the data volume. By changing the parameter representation from raw operation data to compressed hash values, the system achieves both high reliability in failure detection and fast processing speed.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

2Reliability

If a large quantity of operation data is compared to detect failures, then diagnostics reliability improves, but the control cycle is delayed and control performance falls

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvediagnostics reliabilityVSAvoidcontrol cycle time

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system extracts only the essential diagnostic information from the complete operation data by generating hash values. Instead of comparing all input, intermediate, and output data, the system computes hash values from these data and compares only the hash values, thereby extracting the critical diagnostic element while discarding redundant data for the comparison process.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The invention transforms the operation data into a different parameter form (hash values) that preserves the diagnostic information while significantly reducing the data volume. By changing the parameter representation from raw operation data to compressed hash values, the system achieves both high reliability in failure detection and fast processing speed.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

3Productivity

If hash values are compared to reduce processing time, then processing speed improves, but the ability to detect subtle data falsification may be reduced

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveprocessing speedVSAvoiddata falsification detection accuracy

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSMeasurement precision

Solution Approach 1:

The invention transforms the operation data into a different parameter form (hash values) that preserves the diagnostic information while significantly reducing the data volume. By changing the parameter representation from raw operation data to compressed hash values, the system achieves both high reliability in failure detection and fast processing speed.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

Data Source

PatentUS8065564B2Redundant control apparatus

Publication Date: 2011.11.22 KK TOSHIBA

AI summary

First and second processing units execute the same control program to the same input data in parallel. An input/output unit generates the input data and receives one of two output data executed by the first and second processing units. A channel selection unit sends the input data to the first and second processing units and sends the one to the input/output unit by selecting the one from the two output data. In the first and second processing units, a control cycle synchronization unit generates a control cycle signal at a control cycle, a processor executes the control program, a data memory stores operation data including the input data, intermediate data being executed and output data executed by the processor. A diagnostics unit generates summary information by compressing the operation data and comparatively decides whether the summary information matches the other summary information of the other processing unit every control cycle.