Method for estimating changes in product life resulting from HALT using exponential acceleration model
AssigneeCingular Wireless II, LLC
InventorsMichael K. Brand, Harry W. McLean
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method provides early estimation of product life using accelerated stress testing data. In an embodiment, data measured from a product operating in a first, high-stress environment is used to predict how long the product will operate in a second, normal operating environment before failure, using an exponential acceleration model. An additional feature of the present invention provides a quantified indication of how much the product has improved from a redesign.
Claims19
A machine-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions to perform a method of estimating a life of a product, the method comprising:
- determining accelerated stress testing data for the product using the relationship tF=AF×exp(tA), the accelerated stress testing data representing the response of the product operating in a first environment;
- and
- calculating the mean-time-between-failures (MTBF) for the product operating in a second environment based on the accelerated stress testing data,
- wherein tF is a time to failure on a field use time scale, AF is an acceleration factor, and tA is a time to failure on an accelerated time scale.
A machine-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions to perform a method of estimating a life of a product, the method comprising:
- determining accelerated stress testing data for the product using the relationship tF=AF×exp(tA), the accelerated stress testing data representing the response of the product operating in a first environment;
- and
- calculating the mean-time-between-failures (MTBF) for the product operating in a second environment based on the accelerated stress testing data,
- wherein said first environment is more likely than the second environment to cause the product to fail;
- wherein the accelerated stress testing data is derived from a plurality of different stress tests;
- and
- wherein tF is a time to failure on a field use time scale, AF is an acceleration factor, and tA is a time to failure on an accelerated time scale.
A machine-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions to perform a method of estimating a life of a product, the method comprising:
- determining accelerated stress testing data for the product using the relationship tF=AF×exp(tA), the accelerated stress testing data representing the response of the product operating in a first environment;
- and
- calculating the mean-time-between-failures (MTBF) for the product operating in a second environment based on the accelerated stress testing data,
- wherein said first environment is more likely than the second environment to cause the product to fail;
- wherein said accelerated stress testing data is determined at least in part from bill of materials (BOM) information on the product;
- and
- wherein tF is a time to failure on a field use time scale, AF is an acceleration factor, and tA is a time to failure on an accelerated time scale.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.