Sensor Signal Safety Quality Evaluation for Functional Component Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional safety control systems for functional components in vehicles do not effectively handle faulty sensor data, leading to unnecessary shutdowns and reduced availability of safety-critical functions, as they fail to differentiate between different safety integrity levels and do not account for error situations, resulting in a loss of valuable functionality.
Innovation Solution
A control system that evaluates the safety quality of sensor signals and generates an evaluation parameter to determine the safety integrity level, allowing functional control units to enable or disable operations based on the signal quality, thereby enabling continued operation of non-critical functions even with reduced sensor data integrity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional safety control systems shut down all functions upon detecting faulty sensor data, then safety integrity is maintained, but system availability and functionality are significantly reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments functions into safety-critical and non-safety-critical categories, and sensor data into different integrity levels. When faults are detected, only the affected segments are restricted while other segments continue operating. This allows the system to maintain safety integrity for critical functions while preserving availability for non-critical functions.
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies different quality requirements to different parts of the system. Safety-critical functions require high-integrity sensor data and are shut down when faults are detected, while non-safety-critical functions can operate with lower-integrity data. This localized approach to quality control resolves the contradiction by applying strict safety measures only where necessary.
2Reliability
If the system shuts down safety-critical functions upon error detection, then functional safety is ensured, but valuable availability is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts the operational state of functions based on real-time sensor data quality and fault conditions. Rather than static shutdown decisions, the system continuously evaluates data integrity levels and adapts the operational status of functions accordingly, enabling safe continuation of operations when possible and minimizing availability loss.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the parameter of data integrity assessment from a binary valid/invalid state to a multi-level integrity classification. By evaluating sensor data quality on a spectrum and matching it against the specific safety requirements of each function, the system can maintain operations with reduced but sufficient data quality, reducing unnecessary shutdowns and availability loss.
3Reliability
If the system disables all sensor information upon error detection, then safety integrity level is maintained, but dependent functions cannot operate
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments sensor data into different integrity levels and matches them with the safety requirements of dependent functions. Functions are evaluated individually to determine whether they can operate with the current data quality, allowing the system to retain functionality for non-critical applications while maintaining safety integrity for critical operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The sensor data serves multiple functions with different safety requirements simultaneously. The system evaluates whether the same sensor data can satisfy the safety integrity requirements of each dependent function, allowing universal use of available data across multiple functions rather than disabling all functions when any single function's requirements are not met.
Data Source
AI summary
A system includes a functional control unit and a controller. The functional control unit is configured to enable and disable operation of a functional component. The controller is configured to receive a sensor signal, evaluate safety quality of the sensor signal, generate an evaluation parameter representing the safety quality of the sensor signal, and output the sensor signal with the evaluation parameter as a pair for receipt by the functional control unit. The functional control unit is configured to control operation of the functional component depending on the safety quality indicated by the evaluation parameter.