A Model-Based Diagnosis Framework for Distributed Embedded Systems

We present a distributed model-based diagnostics architecture for embedded diagnostics. We extend the traditional model-based definition of diagnosis to a distributed diagnosis definition, in which we have a collection of distributed sub-systems whose interconnectivity is described by a directed graph. Assuming that each sub-system can compute a local minimal diagnosis based only on sensors internal to that sub-system and knowledge only of its own system description, we describe an algorithm that guarantees a globally sound, complete and minimal diagnosis for the complete system. By compiling diagnoses for groups of sub-systems based on the interconnectivity graph, the algorithm efficiently synthesizes the local diagnoses into a globally-sound system diagnosis.