Structural Analysis Linking Safety-Related Ports to Mechanisms
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for identifying safety-related ports in integrated circuits are inaccurate, time-consuming, and lack traceable evidence, particularly in complex designs with multiple hierarchies, leading to incomplete detection of faults affecting safety.
Innovation Solution
A method and system using structural design analysis and path tracing algorithms to identify and verify the association between safety-related ports and their designated safety mechanisms, including primary and secondary mechanisms, ensuring all ports are within the cone of influence of monitoring.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If manual DFMEA or FTA methods are used to identify safety-related ports, then comprehensive safety analysis can be performed, but the process becomes time-consuming and lacks traceable evidence
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual DFMEA/FTA analysis with automated computer-based path tracing algorithms. The system uses software to automatically trace signal paths from diagnostic points through the circuit design, identifying safety-related ports without human intervention. This substitution of manual mechanical analysis with automated computational methods resolves the contradiction by providing both high accuracy and speed.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary computer-based analysis system that acts as a mediator between the circuit design and the safety verification process. This intermediary automatically performs path tracing and generates traceable evidence, eliminating the need for time-consuming manual analysis while maintaining comprehensive safety coverage.
2Reliability
If existing manual methods are used for safety verification, then analysis can be performed, but the results lack traceable evidence and are inaccurate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements feedback by automatically generating and recording the complete path tracing process. The system provides traceable evidence through detailed reports that show exactly which paths were traced, which ports were identified as safety-related, and how the conclusions were reached. This feedback mechanism ensures both reliability and information retention.
3Measurement precision
If comprehensive path tracing is performed across multiple hierarchies, then all safety-related ports can be identified, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the complex circuit design into hierarchical levels and performs path tracing at each level independently. The system divides the large-scale analysis problem into smaller, manageable segments corresponding to different hierarchy levels, making the overall process less complex while maintaining comprehensive coverage.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent adds the dimension of hierarchical level to the analysis process. Instead of treating the circuit as a flat structure, the system operates across multiple hierarchical dimensions, tracing paths through different levels of abstraction. This dimensional approach simplifies the complexity by organizing the analysis in a structured hierarchical framework.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of verifying safety in a circuit design, includes, in part, receiving data representative of the circuit design, identifying a first safety mechanism within the circuit design where the safety mechanism is represented by a first module and has an output port defining a first diagnostic point, identifying a multitude of ports of a second module within the circuit design, determining whether at least one port of the second module is associated with a safety concern, performing a backward path tracing from the first diagnostic point to determine if the port falls within a cone of influence of the first safety mechanism, and establishing that a potential fault appearing at the port is detectable at the first diagnostic point if the port is determined to fall within the cone of influence of the first safety mechanism.