The use of optical sensors to perform health monitoring in fault-tolerant multicomputers can allow the multicomputer to detect imminent failure in a particular section of the interconnection network due to damaging strain. This detection method allows the rerouting of critical data before data link failure occurs. This thesis investigates the implementation of the extrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometer into an optical hybrid communications/sensing network. A testbed of personal computers, acting as nodes of a multicomputer, are used to monitor the integrity of the network to a high degree of accuracy. When a node determines that an adjacent data link is no longer reliable due to physical damage, communications are rerouted and the node is shut down. Results of experiments with the testbed have shown that redundant nodes can be used to share computational loads, increasing the performance of the multicomputer, until network failure forces redundant nodes to assume full responsibility for computational tasks. Multicomputer performance suffers as a result of network damage, but full functionality is retained with no occurrence of errors or unknown conditions due to data link failure. / Master of Science

Most existing fault tolerant systems employ some form of dynamic redundancy and can be considered to be incident driven. Their recovery mechanisms are triggered by the detection of a fault. This dissertation investigates an alternative approach to fault tolerant design where the redundant system restores itself periodically to correct errors before they build up to the point of system failure. It is shown that periodically self restoring systems can be designed to be tolerant of both transient (intermittent) and permanent hardware faults. Further, the reliability of such designs is not compromised by fault latency. The periodically self restoring redundant (PSRR) systems presented in this dissertation employ, in general, N computing units (CU's) operating redundantly in synchronization. The CU's communicate with each other periodically to restore units that may have failed due to transient faults. This restoration is initiated by an interrupt from an external (fault tolerant) clocking circuit. A reliability model for such systems is developed in terms of the number of CU's in the system, their failure rates and the frequency of system restoration. Both transient and permanent faults are considered. The model allows the estimation of system reliability and mean time to failure. A restoration algorithm for implementing the periodic restoration process in PSRR systems is also presented. Finally a design procedure is described that can be used for designing PSRR systems to meet desired reliability specifications. / Ph. D.

Thesis (MScEng)--Stellenbosch University, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis presents the development of an adaptive longitudinal control system for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The project forms part of a research effort at Stellenbosch University into different fault-tolerant control techniques for UAVs. In order to demonstrate the usefulness of fault-tolerant adaptive control, the control system was designed to handle damage-induced longitudinal shifts in the centre of gravity (CG) of the aircraft, which are known to have a dramatic effect on the stability of a fixed-wing aircraft. Using a simplified force and moment model, equations were derived which model the effect of longitudinal CG shifts on the behaviour of the aircraft. A linear analysis of the longitudinal dynamics using these equations showed that the short period mode can become unstable for backward CG shifts. An adaptive pitch rate controller with the model reference adaptive control structure was designed to re-stabilise the short period mode when the CG shifts backwards. The adaptive law was designed using Lyapunov stability theory. Airspeed, climb rate and altitude controllers were designed around the pitch rate controller to allow full autonomous control of the longitudinal dynamics of the UAV. These outer loops were designed with constant parameters, since they would be unaffected by CG shifts if the adaptive pitch rate controller performed as desired. Pure software simulations as well as hardware-in-the-loop simulations showed that the adaptive control system is able to handle instantaneous shifts in the centre of gravity which would destabilise a fixed-gain control system. These simulation results were validated in flight tests, where the aircraft was destabilised using positive feedback and re-stabilised by the adaptive control system. Thus the simulation and flight test results showed that an adaptive control can re-stabilise an unstable aircraft without explicit knowledge of the change in the aircraft dynamics, and therefore could be effective as part of an integrated fault-tolerant control system. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis bied die ontwikkeling aan van ’n aanpassende longitudinale beheerstelsel vir ’n onbemande vliegtuig. Die projek is deel van navorsing by die Universiteit van Stellenbosch oor verskillende fout-tolerante beheertegnieke vir onbemande vliegtuie. Om die doeltreffendheid van aanpassende beheer te demonstreer, is die beheerstelsel ontwerp om situasies te kan hanteer waar die vliegtuig só beskadig word dat sy massamiddelpunt agtertoe skuif, wat ’n groot invloed op die stabiliteit van ’n vastevlerk-vliegtuig kan hê. ’n Vereenvoudigde model van die kragte en momente wat op die vliegtuig inwerk is gebruik om vergelykings af te lei wat beskryf hoe die gedrag van die vliegtuig verander as die massamiddelpunt agtertoe verskuif. Hierdie vergelykings is gebruik in ’n lineêre analise van die longitudinale dinamika van die vliegtuig, wat getoon het dat die kortperiode-modus onstabiel kan raak as die massamiddelpunt agtertoe verskuif. ’n Aanpassende heitempobeheerder met die modelverwysings-aanpassende beheerstruktuur is ontwerp om die kortperiode-modus weer te stabiliseer wanneer die massamiddelpunt agtertoe verskuif. Die aanpassingswet is ontwerp deur die gebruik van Lyapunov se stabiliteitsteorie. Lugspoed-, klimtempo- en hoogtebeheerders is rondom die aanpassende heitempobeheerder ontwerp sodat die longitudinale dinamika van die vliegtuig heeltemal outonoom beheer kan word. Hierdie buitelusse is ontwerp met vaste parameters, aangesien hulle nie geraak sal word deur verskuiwings in die massamiddelpunt as die aanpassende heitempobeheerder na wense werk nie. Suiwer sagteware-simulasies, sowel as hardeware-in-die-lus-simulasies, het getoon dat die aanpassende beheerstelsel oombliklike verskuiwings in die massamiddelpunt goed kan hanteer, waar sulke verskuiwings ’n beheerstelsel met vaste parameters onstabiel sou maak. Hierdie simulasie-resultate is bevestig deur vlugtoetse te doen, waar die vliegtuig onstabiel gemaak is deur positiewe terugvoer, en weer deur die aanpassende beheerstelsel stabiel gemaak is. Die simulasie- en vlugtoetsresultate wys dus dat aanpassende beheer ’n onstabiele vliegtuig weer kan stabiliseer sonder eksplisiete kennis van die veranderinge in die dinamika van die vliegtuig. Aanpassende beheer kan dus doeltreffend wees as deel van ’n geïntegreerde fout-tolerante beheerstelsel.

Beneath the facade of the applications code of a well-designed real-time embedded system lies intrinsic firmware that facilitates a fast and effective means of detecting and diagnosing inevitable hardware failures. These failures can encumber the availability of a system, and, consequently, an identification of the source of the malfunction is needed. It is shown that the number of possible origins of all manner of failures is immense. As a result, fault models are contrived to encompass prevalent hardware faults. Furthermore, the complexity is reduced by determining syndromes for particular circuitry and applying test vectors at a functional block level. Testing phases and philosophies together with standardisation policies are defined to ensure the compliance of system designers to the underlying principles of evaluating system integrity. The three testing phases of power-on self tests at system start up, on-line health monitoring and off-line diagnostics are designed to ensure that the inherent test firmware remains inconspicuous during normal applications. The prominence of the code is, however, apparent on the detection or diagnosis of a hardware failure. The authenticity of the theoretical models, standardisation policies and built-in test philosophies are illustrated by means of their application to an intricate real-time system. The architecture and the software design implementing the idealogies are described extensively. Standardisation policies, enhanced by the proposition of generic tests for common core components, are advocated at all hierarchical levels. The presentation of the integration of the hardware and software are aimed at portraying the moderately complex nature of the task of generating a set of built-in tests for a real-time embedded system. In spite of generic policies, the intricacies of the architecture are found to have a direct influence on software design decisions. It is thus concluded that the diagnostic objectives of the user requirements specification be lucidly expressed by both operational and maintenance personnel for all testing phases. Disparity may exist between the system designer and the end user in the understanding of the requirements specification defining the objectives of the diagnosis. It is thus essential for complete collaboration between the two parties throughout the development life cycle, but especially during the preliminary design phase. Thereafter, the designer would be able to decide on the sophistication of the system testing capabilities. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1991.

Approved for public release, distribution is unlimited / The management of the battlefield network takes place in a Network Operations Center (NOC). The manager, based on the importance of the managed network, is sometimes required to be present all the time within the physical installations of the NOC. The decisions regard a wide spectrum of network configurations, fault detection and repair, and network performance improvement. Especially in the case of the battlefield network operations these decisions are sometimes so important that can be characterized as critical to the success of the whole military operation. Most of the times, the response time is so restricted that exceeds the mean physical human response limits. An automated response that also carries the characteristics of human intelligence is needed to overcome the restrictions the human nature of an administrator imposes. The research will establish the proper computer network management architecture for an adaptive network. This architecture will enhance the capabilities of network management and in terms of cost and efficiency. / Lieutenant Commander, Hellenic Navy

La théorie des systèmes a acquis un statut interdisciplinaire au cours des cinq dernières décennies, et un aspect important de cette théorie concerne la commande automatique des systèmes dynamiques. Un dispositif de commande, appelé contrôleur ou régulateur, est un dispositif qu'on interconnecte à un système donné, qu'on désigne aussi sous le terme de procédé ou processus, de manière à réaliser un système global ayant un comportement désiré ou des performances spécifiées. Dans cette thèse, nous traitons de la problématique de la commande automatique des systèmes dynamiques sujets à des défaillances. Cette problématique est fortement motivée par les exigences de sûreté de fonctionnement des systèmes en milieu industriel où la commande tolérante aux défauts constitue un moyen pour améliorer la fiabilité et accroître la disponibilté des systèmes tout en assurant les performances souhaitées. Le travail présenté dans cette thèse porte essentiellement sur la synthèse de techniques de commande en ligne en vue de garantir une tolérance aux pannes à tout moment pour le système bouclé. Deux approches sont proposées, à savoir une première approche basée sur une banque de contrôleurs pré-conçus et une seconde approche basée sur la conception en ligne des commandes. L'originalité de ces approches réside dans le fait qu'aucune information a priori sur le procédé n'est exigée ou n'est disponible en temps réel. En particulier, aucune identification ni estimation des paramètres du procédé n'est effectuée en temps réel. La reconfiguration des contrôleurs suite à une défaillance du procédé se base uniquement sur les trajectoires réelles (signaux) issues du procédé. Nous utilisons l'approche comportementale des systèmes comme paradigme de modélisation mathématique pour le développement des solutions proposées. Dans ce cadre mathématique, le concept d'interconnexion entre deux systèmes dynamiques, à savoir le contrôleur et le procédé, joue un rôle important dans la formulation et la solution du problème de commande et permet de déterminer l'ensemble admissible des trajectoires du procédé qui sont compatibles avec les spécifications de performance. Du point de vue pratique, la réduction des transitoires lors de la reconfiguration des contrôleurs est l'une des exigences importantes dans les algorithmes de commandes tolérantes aux défauts. La dernière partie de la thèse traite de la gestion de ces transitoires à l'aide d'une technique d'implantation des contrôleurs en temps réel qui assure une transition sans-à-coup lors des reconfigurations. En outre, on illustre dans cette dernière partie de la thèse les solutions de commandes obtenues pour la tolérance aux fautes sur des exemples issus du monde réel, à savoir un procédé hydraulique constitué de deux bacs à niveau, un avion en phase d'approche à l'atterrissage, et une éolienne NREL de 5 mégawatts / The field of system and control theory has achieved an interdisciplinary status during the past five decades, and we refer to the theory that was developed during this period as the conventional control theory. This mainly relates to the study of automation and the design of controllers. A controller is a device that makes the interconnection with a given system so that the controlled system can behave in a desired way. In this thesis, we deal with the issues when the controlled system becomes faulty. The control of a faulty system addresses the concept of Fault-Tolerant Control System (FTCS). The study of such systems is in response to the demands of large-scale industries since from their viewpoint it is the foremost task to design control systems, which are capable of tolerating potential faults occurring either in the internal closedloops or from the environmental factors in order to improve the reliability and availability of a system while providing the expected performance. The work presented in this thesis is mainly focused on synthesizing the online controllers that guarantee the closed-loop system to be fault-tolerant at anytime. Two methodologies are proposed in this work, which rest under the broad classification of FTC systems, namely projection-based approach and online redesign approach. The novelty of these approaches lies in the fact that any a priori information about the plant is not available in realtime. In addition, no online identification or estimation of the operating plant is carried out. Rather, the re-configuration procedure of the controllers is solely based on the measurements generated by the unknown plant. This phenomenon is very nicely demonstrated by using the time-trajectory based viewpoint of behavioral theory. Within this mathematical framework, the interconnection between two dynamical systems, namely the plant and the controller, plays the significant role. Consequently, taking the benefits of this behavioral framework, the real-time measurement based solutions are proposed to handle the fault-tolerant control problem. From the practical implementation viewpoint, the transient management during the controller reconfiguration mechanism is one of the important requirements for active FTCS. The last part of the thesis deals with the online implementation of the controllers within the behavioral framework, which takes care of the transient mechanism. The proposed approach guarantees the "real-time smooth interconnection" between the controller and the unknown plant. Moreover, in this part the application of the theory developed in the thesis is effectively demonstrated on real-world examples, namely the two-tanks system, the aircraft landing mechanism, and the NREL's 5MW wind turbine system.

Les Systèmes électriques à Puissance Distribuée (SPD) sont utilisés dans de nombreux secteurs industriels. La sûreté de fonctionnement (SDF) et la continuité de service de ces SPDs sont aujourd'hui des préoccupations majeures. Une stratégie de gestion globale de l'énergie adaptée ainsi que leur stabilité sont des exigences fondamentales pour que ces systèmes puissent fonctionner correctement. La présence de charges déséquilibrées ainsi que les interactions entre convertisseurs dans ces systèmes peuvent conduire à l'instabilité du bus DC commun. Un des cas les plus connus en terme de cause d'instabilité est celui d'une charge "à puissance constante" (CPL). Par ailleurs, toute défaillance au niveau de l'interrupteur commandable du convertisseur peut provoquer de graves dysfonctionnements du système. Tout défaut non détecté et non compensé en temps réel peut rapidement mettre en danger l'ensemble du système de puissance. Par conséquent, la mise en oeuvre de méthodes efficaces et rapides de détection et de compensation de défaut est impérative. Afin d'assurer la continuité de service de ces systèmes. Dans ce mémoire, nous étudions la gestion de l'énergie, la stabilité et la continuité de service d'un DC-SPD. Après l'étude de la gestion de l'énergie et la stabilité du système, une méthode de stabilisation active décentralisée est proposée afin d'augmenter le domaine de stabilité du SPD et afin deéviter l'instabilité en présence de charges déséquilibrées. Par ailleurs, des méthodes de détection de défaut au niveau d'un interrupteur commandable, efficaces et très rapides, sont également proposées. Nous présentons également une topologie de convertisseur DC-DC à tolérance de pannes, intégrant un interrupteur redondant ; dans tous les cas de défaut (court-circuit ou circuit-ouvert), cette topologie doit permettre deassurer la continuité de service du système de puissance en mode normal. Les études théoriques ont été validées par la simulation et par des tests expérimentaux / Electric Distributed Power Systems (DPS) are used in many industrial sectors. Continuity of service of these systems as well as their reliability are now of the major concerned. Energy management and stability are fundamental requirements for these systems to operate normally. In these systems, load converters exhibit Constant Power Load (CPL) behavior tend to destabilize the system. The system stability also can be threatened by unbalanced loads connected to the common bus. Furthermore, the failure of the controllable switch of the converter can cause serious malfunctions of the system. Undetected and uncompensated fault in real time can quickly endanger the entire power system. Therefore, the implementation of effective and rapid fault detection methods and compensation is mandatory. In this thesis, we study the energy management, stability and continuity of service of a DC-DPS. After the study of energy management and system stability, an active decentralized stabilization method is proposed to increase the stability domain of the system and to avoid instability in the case of unbalanced loads. Furthermore, efficient and very rapid methods of fault detection for a controllable switch are also proposed. We have presented a fault tolerant topology with redundancy for a DC-DC converter, which must ensure continuity of service of the DPS in any fault conditions (open or short circuit). Theoretical studies have been validated by simulation and experimental tests

The world of computers experienced an explosive period of growth toward the end of the 20th century with the widespread availability of the Internet and the development of the World Wide Web. As people began using computer networks for everything from research and communication to banking and commerce, network failures became a greater concern because of the potential to interrupt critical applications. Fault tolerance systems were developed to detect and correct network failures within minutes and eventually within seconds of the failure, but time-critical applications such as military communications, video conferencing, and Web-based sales require better response time than any previous systems could provide. The goal of this thesis was the development and implementation of a Network Fault Tolerance (NFT) system that can detect and recover from failures of network interface cards, network cables, switches, and routers in much less than one second from the time of failure. The problem was divided into two parts: fault tolerance within a single local area network (LAN), and fault tolerance across many local area networks. The first part involves the network interface cards, network cables, and switches within a LAN, which the second part involves the routers that connect LANs into larger internetworks. Both parts of the NFT solution were implemented on Windows NT 4.0 PC's connected by a switched Fast Ethernet network. The NFT system was found to correct system failures within 300 milliseconds of the failure.

A diminuição no tamanho dos transistores vem aumentando cada vez mais o número de funções que os dispositivos eletrônicos podem realizar. Apesar da diminuição do tamanho mínimo dos transistores, a velocidade máxima dos circuitos não consegue seguir a mesma taxa de aumento. Um dos grandes culpados apontados pelos pesquisadores são as interconexões entre os transistores e também entre os componentes. O aumento no número de interconexões dos circuitos traz consigo um significativo aumento do cosumo de energia, aumento do atraso de propagação dos sinais, além de um aumento da complexidade e custo do projeto dos circuitos integrados. Como uma possível solução a este problema é proposta a utilização de lógica multivalorada, mais especificamente, a lógica quaternária. Os dispositivos FPGAs são caracterizados principalmente pela grande flexibilidade que oferecem aos projetistas de sistemas digitais. Entretanto, com o avanço nas tecnologias de fabricação de circuitos integrados e diminuição das dimensões de fabricação, os problemas relacionados ao grande número de interconexões são uma preocupação para as próximas tecnologias de FPGAs. As tecnologias menores que 90nm possuem um grande aumento na taxa de erros dos circuitos, na lógica combinacional e sequencial. Apesar de algumas potenciais soluções começara a ser investigadas pela comunidade, a busca por circuitos tolerantes a erros induzidos por radiação, sem penalidades no desempenho, área ou potência, ainda é um assunto de pesquisa em aberto. Este trabalho propõe o uso de circuitos quaternários com modificações para tolerar falhas provenientes de eventos transientes. Como principal contribuição deste trabalho destaca-se o desenvolvimento de uma CLB (do inglês Configurable Logic Block) quaternária capaz de suportar eventos transientes e, na possibilidade de um erro, evitá-lo ou corrigi-lo. / The decrease in transistor size is increasing the number of functions that can be performed by the electronic devices. Despite this reduction in the transistors minimum size, the circuit’s speed does not follow the same rate. One of the major reasons pointed out by researchers are the interconnections between the transistors and between the components. The increase in the number of circuit interconnections brings a significant increase in energy consumption, propagation delay of signals, and an increase in the complexity and cost of new technologies IC designs. As a possible solution to this problem the use of multivalued logic is being proposed, more specifically, the quaternary logic. FPGA devices are characterized mainly by offering greater flexibility to designers of digital systems. However, with the advance in IC manufacturing technologies and the reduced size of the minimum fabricated dimensions, the problems related to the large number of interconnections are a concern for future technologies of FPGAs. The sub 90nm technologies have a large increase in the error rate of its functions for the combinational and sequential logic. Although potential solutions are being investigated by the community, the search for circuits tolerant to radiation induced errors, without performance, area, or power penalties, is still an open research issue. This work proposes the use of quaternary circuits with modifications to tolerate faults from transient events. The main contribution of this work is the development of a quaternary CLB (Configurable Logic Block) able to withstand transient events and the occurrence of soft errors.

Thesis (Sc.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 1982. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ENGINEERING / Bibliography: leaves 898-903. / by Howard Jay Chizeck. / Sc.D.