Multiple aspect operator interface for displaying fault diagnostics results in intelligent process control systems

Apparatus for interactively displaying results of a diagnostic analysis system used for analyzing operation of a monitored process, comprising

• means for providing a hierarchical component model representing a relationship between components of the monitored process, any of the components being a potential faulty component,
• means for providing a hierarchical process operation model representing a relationship between operations of the monitored process, any of the operations possibly affected by the potential faulty component,
• means for receiving signals, from the diagnostic analysis system, indicating potential faulty components,
• means for simultaneously displaying, based on the received signals, in a first display window of a display at least a portion of the hierarchical component model including the potential faulty component and in a second display window at least a portion of the hierarchical process operation model including the operations possibly affected by the potential faulty component, and
• means for allowing a user to scroll said first window in two orthogonal directions independently of the scrolling in said second window,
• wherein each said hierarchical model of the means for providing a hierarchical component model and the means for providing a hierarchical process operation model includes:
• a plurality of nodes, each said node being at a hierarchical level in said hierarchical model,
• a plurality of propagation paths wherein each said path interconnects two said nodes for representing propagation of information from a node at a lower hierarchical level to a node at a higher hierarchical level;
• wherein the node at the highest hierarchical level is a root node and any node interconnected to a selected node and having a hierarchical level lower than the hierarchical level of said selected node is a subnode of said selected node;
• and
• said apparatus further comprising
• means for automatically determining, based upon the signals from the diagnostic analysis system, a base-display node which serves as a highest level node of a portion of the hierarchical model to be displayed in one of said windows, said base-display node initially being designated the root node for each hierarchical model;
• wherein each said hierarchical model of the means for providing a hierarchical component model and the means for providing a hierarchical process operation model includes:
• alarms at associate nodes, each said alarm having a first clear state and a second selected state, and wherein said automatic determining means comprises
• means for reading current data signals from the diagnostic system wherein said data signals represent the current state of alarms at various nodes,
• means for determining from said data signals one selected node to designate as the base-display node, and
• means for displaying a subtree of the hierarchical model in one of said windows wherein said base-display node is a highest-level node in said subtree;
• wherein said determining from said data signals means comprises
• means for reading the alarms at selected nodes;
• means for designating any node having an alarm in said selected state as a fault source node;
• means for determining how may subnodes are interconnected to each fault source node, and
• means for designating the fault node having the most interconnected subnodes as the base-display node.