Adaptive fault identification system

A computer device for identifying faults in a system, the system comprising a plurality of mechanical or electrical components that operate in a plurality of states, the components of the system being arranged to output data indicative of their respective performance during any given state, the device comprising:

• a) a computer processor coupled to the components of the system to receive as input state data representative of a state of the system when a fault occurs;
• b) a production database coupled to the computer processor and storing a plurality of data entries concerning one or more instances when the system was faulting in a particular state, each entry having associated with it a label that identifies a proper response to correct at least one system fault for the particular state, the production database having associated with it a similarity criteria being a measure of similarity and comprising parameters within which the state data is considered similar to the values of a given data entry in the production database;
• c) the computer processor including means to compare the state data with all the data entries in the production database to determine if the state data satisfies the similarity criteria with respect to each of the plurality of data entries in the production database;
• d) the computer processor including means to output each label associated with each data entry in the production database that satisfies the similarity criteria;
• e) an input device coupled to the computer processor for accepting input concerning actions to take to correct a fault in a given state when there is not data entry in the production database that satisfies the similarity criteria with respect to the state data;
• f) the computer processor including means to create a new entry in the production database using the input data representative of a fault for a given state of the system and associating with the new entry a new label comprising the additional information concerning the actions to take to correct the fault;
• and
• g) the computer including means to train the production database by adjusting the parameters of the similarity criteria, according to a preselected learning scheme, said learning scheme utilizing the new entry when adjusting the parameters.

A computer-based method for identifying faults in a system, the system comprising a plurality of mechanical or electrical components that operate in a plurality of states, the system being a unit under test of a computer system, the components of the system being arranged to output data indicative of their respective performance during any given state, the method comprising the steps of:

• a) providing a stimulus to said unit under test to generate data to be captured, said stimulus being a built-in self test and an operating system of the computer system;
• b) capturing data representative of a state of the system when a fault occurs, said captured data being machine states of said unit under test;
• c) processing the captured data into a recall data pattern;
• d) providing a production database comprising a plurality of data entries, each data entry representative of one or more instances when the system is faulting in a particular state, each data entry having associated with it a label that identifies a proper response to correct at least one system fault for the particular state, the production database having associated with it a similarity criteria being a measure of similarity and comprising parameters within which the recall data pattern is considered similar to a data entry;
• e) comparing, using a subspace mask of a parallel associative memory in accordance with a hierarchy of the built-in self test, the recall data pattern with each one of the plurality of data entries in the production database to determine an ordered recommendation list of data entries, each data entry in the ordered recommendation list satisfying the similarity criteria when compared with the recall data pattern;
• and
• f) returning the ordered recommendation list of data entries and each label from the production database associated with each data entry in the ordered recommendation list.

A computer-based method for identifying faults in a system, the system comprising a plurality of mechanical or electrical components that operate in a plurality of states, the system being a unit under test of a computer system, the components of the system being arranged to output data indicative of their respective performance during any given state, the method comprising the steps of:

• a) capturing, using a logic analyzer, data representative of a state of the system when a fault occurs, said captured data being machine states of said unit under test;
• b) processing the captured data into a recall data pattern;
• c) providing a production database comprising a plurality of data entries, each data entry representative of one or more instances when the system is faulting in a particular state, each data entry having associated with it a label that identifies a proper response to correct at least one system fault for the particular state, the production database having associated with it a similarity criteria being a measure of similarity and comprising parameters within which the recall data pattern is considered similar to a data entry;
• d) comparing, using a subspace mask of a parallel associative memory in accordance with data elements of the logic analyzer, the recall data pattern with each one of the plurality of data entries in the production database to determine an ordered recommendation list of data entries, each data entry in the ordered recommendation list satisfying the similarity criteria when compared with the recall data pattern;
• and
• e) returning the ordered recommendation list of data entries and each label from the production database associated with each data entry in the ordered recommendation list.

A computer-based method for identifying faults in a system, the system comprising a plurality of mechanical or electrical components that operate in a plurality of states, the components of the system being arranged to output data indicative of their respective performance during any given state, the method comprising the steps of:

• a) capturing data representative of a state of the system when a fault occurs;
• b) processing the captured data into a recall data pattern using if/then programming constructs;
• c) providing a production database comprising a plurality of data entries, each data entry representative of one or more instances when the system is faulting in a particular state, each data entry having associated with it a label that identifies a proper response to correct at least one system fault for the particular state, the production database having associated with it a similarity criteria being a measure of similarity and comprising parameters within which the recall data pattern is considered similar to a data entry;
• d) comparing the recall data pattern with each one of the plurality of data entries in the production database to determine an ordered recommendation list of data entries, each data entry in the ordered recommendation list satisfying the similarity criteria when compared with the recall data pattern;
• and
• e) returning the ordered recommendation list of data entries and each label from the production database associated with each data entry in the ordered recommendation list.

A computer-based method for identifying faults in a system, the system comprising a plurality of mechanical or electrical components that operate in a plurality of states, the components of the system being arranged to output data indicative of their respective performance during any given state, the method comprising the steps of:

• a) capturing data representative of a state of the system when a fault occurs;
• b) processing the captured data into a recall data pattern;
• c) providing a production database comprising a plurality of data entries, each data entry representative of one or more instances when the system is faulting in a particular state, each data entry having associated with it a label that identifies a proper response to correct at least one system fault for the particular state, the production database having associated with it a similarity criteria being a measure of similarity and comprising parameters within which the recall data pattern is considered similar to a data entry;
• d) comparing the recall data pattern with each one of the plurality of data entries in the production database to determine an ordered recommendation list of data entries, each data entry in the ordered recommendation list satisfying the similarity criteria when compared with the recall data pattern;
• e) ordering the ordered recommendation list in accordance with the degree of similarity between each data entry in the ordered recommendation list and the recall data pattern;
• and
• f) returning the ordered recommendation list of data entries and each label from the production database associated with each data entry in the ordered recommendation list.

A computer-based method for identifying faults in a system, the system comprising a plurality of mechanical or electrical components that operate in a plurality of states, the components of the system being arranged to output data indicative of their respective performance during any given state, the method comprising the steps of:

• a) capturing data representative of a state of the system when a fault occurs;
• b) processing the captured data into a recall data pattern;
• c) providing a production database comprising a plurality of data entries, each data entry representative of one or more instances when the system is faulting in a particular state, each data entry having associated with it a label that identifies a proper response to correct at least one system fault for the particular state, the production database having associated with it a similarity criteria being a measure of similarity and comprising parameters within which the recall data pattern is considered similar to a data entry;
• d) comparing the recall data pattern with each one of the plurality of data entries in the production database to determine an ordered recommendation list of data entries, each data entry in the ordered recommendation list satisfying the similarity criteria when compared with the recall data pattern;
• and
• e) returning the ordered recommendation list of data entries and each label from the production database associated with each data entry in the ordered recommendation list;
• wherein the comparing step is performed by a search tool capable of performing the following functions:
• processing variable length recall data patterns;
• masking portions of the recall data pattern such that the unmasked portions must match between the recall data pattern and the data entries;
• adjusting similarity criteria associated with each data entry;
• providing an ordered output list;
• performing inexact searching;
• and associating a data entry with a variable length label.

A computer-based method for identifying faults in a system, the system comprising a plurality of mechanical or electrical components that operate in a plurality of states, the components of the system being arranged to output data indicative of their respective performance during any given state, the method comprising the steps of:

• a) capturing data representative of a state of the system when a fault occurs;
• b) dividing the captured data into parts;
• c) processing each part of the captured data into a corresponding recall data pattern;
• d) providing multiple production databases, each production database comprising a plurality of data entries, each data entry representative of one or more instances when the system is faulting in a particular state, each data entry having associated with it a label that identifies a proper response to correct at least one system fault for the particular state, each production database having associated with it a similarity criteria being a measure of similarity and comprising parameters within which the recall data pattern is considered similar to a data entry;
• e) searching the multiple production databases in parallel by comparing each recall data pattern with each one of the plurality of data entries in one of the multiple production databases to determine an ordered recommendation list of data entries, each data entry in the ordered recommendation list satisfying the similarity criteria when compared with the recall data pattern;
• and
• f) returning the ordered recommendation list of data entries and each label from the production database associated with each data entry in the ordered recommendation list.

A computer-based method for identifying faults in a system, the system comprising a plurality of mechanical or electrical components that operate in a plurality of states, the components of the system being arranged to output data indicative of their respective performance during any given state, the method comprising the steps of:

• a) capturing data representative of a state of the system when a fault occurs;
• b) processing the captured data into a recall data pattern;
• c) providing a production database comprising a plurality of data entries, each data entry representative of one or more instances when the system is faulting in a particular state, each data entry having associated with it a label that identifies a proper response to correct at least one system fault for the particular state, the production database having associated with it a similarity criteria being a measure of similarity and comprising parameters within which the recall data pattern is considered similar to a data entry;
• d) comparing the recall data pattern with each one of the plurality of data entries in the production database to determine an ordered recommendation list of data entries, each data entry in the ordered recommendation list satisfying the similarity criteria when compared with the recall data pattern, wherein the step of comparing includes performing a hierarchical search which depends on previous search results;
• and
• e) returning the ordered recommendation list of data entries and each label from the production database associated with each data entry in the ordered recommendation list.

A computer-based method for identifying faults in a system, the system comprising a plurality of mechanical or electrical components that operate in a plurality of states, the components of the system being arranged to output data indicative of their respective performance during any given state, the method comprising the steps of:

• a) capturing data representative of a state of the system when a fault occurs;
• b) processing the captured data into a recall data pattern;
• c) providing a production database comprising a plurality of data entries, each data entry representative of one or more instances when the system is faulting in a particular state, each data entry having associated with it a label that identifies a proper response to correct at least one system fault for the particular state, the production database having associated with it a similarity criteria being a measure of similarity and comprising parameters within which the recall data pattern is considered similar to a data entry;
• d) comparing the recall data pattern with each one of the plurality of data entries in the production database to determine an ordered recommendation list of data entries, each data entry in the ordered recommendation list satisfying the similarity criteria when compared with the recall data pattern;
• e) returning the ordered recommendation list of data entries and each label from the production database associated with each data entry in the ordered recommendation list;
• f) providing a training database comprising a second plurality of data entries representative of one or more instances when the system is faulting in a particular state, each one of the plurality of data entries having associated with it a second label that identifies a proper response to correct at least one system fault for the particular state;
• g) adding the second plurality of data entries and the second labels from the training database to the production database;
• and
• f) training the production database using a learning algorithm by dynamically changing the similarity criteria as the second plurality of data entries and the second labels are added to the production database.

A computer-based method for identifying faults in a system, the system comprising a plurality of mechanical or electrical components that operate in a plurality of states, the components of the system being arranged to output data indicative of their respective performance during any given state, the method comprising the steps of:

• a) capturing data representative of a state of the system when a fault occurs;
• b) processing the captured data into a recall data pattern;
• c) providing a production database comprising a plurality of data entries, each data entry representative of one or more instances when the system is faulting in a particular state, each data entry having associated with it a label that identifies a proper response to correct at least one system fault for the particular state, the production database having associated with it a similarity criteria being a measure of similarity and comprising parameters within which the recall data pattern is considered similar to a data entry;
• d) comparing the recall data pattern with each one of the plurality of data entries in the production database to determine a recommendation list of data entries, each data entry in the recommendation list satisfying the similarity criteria when compared with the recall data;
• e) returning the recommendation list of data entries and each label from the production database associated with each data entry in the recommendation list;
• and
• f) if the recommendation list does not have a successful recommendation, modifying the similarity criteria.