Uninterruptable verification and control upgrade for real-time control system
AssigneeIntelligent Platforms, LLC
InventorsDaniel Halvard Miller, Rodney Rice
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Exemplified system and method facilitates update/upgrade and validation of controls systems in an uninterrupted manner. An update/upgrade agent operates with a multiple-processor or multi-processor core system to simultaneously and concurrently implement two real-time embedded controllers in which a first controller executes a current firmware or control application installed at the site while a second controller executes an updated controller firmware or control application.
Claims19
A method for operating an embedded control system for controlling an asset, the embedded control system comprising a first processor core and a second processor core, the method comprising:
- executing, by the first processor core, a first set of instructions to generate a first stream of control parameters;
- receiving, by the second processor core, a second set of instructions;
- executing, by the second processor core, the second set of instructions to generate a second stream of control parameters, wherein the second set of instructions are executed concurrently to the first set of instructions;
- monitoring a portion of the first stream and a corresponding portion of the second stream, or one or more parameters derived therefrom, for deviations based on a set of validation criteria and/or for instability conditions;
- validating the second stream in response to the monitoring;
- receiving a selection command associated with a selection of the second stream in response to the validation;
- and
- causing the second stream to be outputted to an input-output interface of the embedded control system to control the asset in response to the selection command.
An embedded control system for controlling an asset, the apparatus comprising a first processor core and a second processor core in communication with a memory, the apparatus programmed to:
- execute, on the first processor core, a first set of instructions to generate a first stream of control parameters;
- receive a second set of instructions;
- execute, on the second processor core, the second set of instructions to generate a second stream of control parameters, wherein the second set of instructions are executed concurrently to the first set of instructions;
- monitor a portion of the first stream and a corresponding portion of the second stream, or one or more parameters derived therefrom, for deviations based on a set of validation criteria and/or for instability conditions;
- validate the second stream in response to the monitoring;
- receive a selection command associated with a selection of the second stream in response to the validation;
- and
- cause the second stream to be outputted to an input-output interface of the embedded control system to control the asset in response to the selection command.
A non-transitory computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon, wherein execution of the instructions, cause at least one processor to:
- execute, on a first processor core, a first set of instructions to generate a first stream of control parameters for controlling an asset;
- receive a second set of instructions;
- execute, by a second processor core, the second set of instructions to generate a second stream of control parameters, wherein the second set of instructions are executed concurrently to the first set of instructions;
- monitor a portion of the first stream and a corresponding portion of the second stream, or one or more parameters derived therefrom, for deviations based on a set of validation criteria and/or for instability conditions;
- validate the second stream in response to the monitoring;
- receive a selection command associated with a selection of the second stream in response to the validation;
- and
- cause the second stream to be outputted to an input-output interface to control the asset in response to the selection command.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.