A diagnostics architecture for component-based system engineering

Abstract

This work presents an approach to diagnosis to meet the challenging demands of modern engineering systems. The proposed approach is an architecture that is both hierarchical and hybrid. The hierarchical dimension of the proposed architecture serves to mitigate the complexity challenges of contemporary engineering systems. The hybrid facet of the architecture tackles the increasing heterogeneity of modern engineering systems. The architecture is presented and realized using a bus representation where various modeling and diagnosis approaches can coexist. The proposed architecture is realized in a simulation environment, the Specification Toolkit and Requirements Methodology (SpecTRM). This research also provides important background information concerning approaches to diagnosis. Approaches to diagnosis are presented, analyzed, and summarized according to their strengths and domains of applicability. Important characteristics that must be considered when developing a diagnostics infrastructure are also presented alongside design guidelines and design implications. Finally, the research presents important topics for further research.