Method for detecting system problems in a distributed control system and a method for allocating foglets in a fog network

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12452152-B2
Application number	US-202117356640-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 24, 2021
Priority date	Jun 30, 2020
Publication date	Oct 21, 2025
Grant date	Oct 21, 2025

Abstract

A method for detecting system problems in a distributed control system including a plurality of computational devices is suggested. The method includes: —deploying one or more software agents on one or more devices of the system; —monitoring, via the one or more software agents, a system configuration and/or a system functionality; —detecting a problem in the monitored system configuration and/or a system functionality; —adding one or more new software agents and deploying the one or more new software agents on one or more devices of the system associated with the problem; —collecting data associated with the problem, via the added software agents.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for detecting system problems in a distributed control system including a plurality of computational devices, the method comprising:
deploying one or more software agents on one or more devices of the system;
monitoring, via the one or more software agents, a system configuration and/or a system functionality;
detecting a problem in the monitored system configuration and/or the monitored system functionality;
adding one or more new software agents and deploying the one or more new software agents on one or more devices of the system associated with the problem; and
collecting data associated with the problem, via the added software agents;
wherein deploying one or more software agents on one or more devices of the system includes:
deploying at least a coordinator software agent configured to create and deploy software agents on one or more devices of the system,
creating and deploying, by the coordinator software agent one or more software agents on one or more devices of the system, wherein the created and deployed software agents are configured to report, to the coordinator software agent, resource requirements of further software agents and/or if a software agent should be terminated.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the monitoring of the system configuration and/or the system functionality includes monitoring: network traffic, application data, system performance, or combinations thereof.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the detecting a problem in the monitored system configuration and/or the monitored system functionality includes:
comparing the monitored system configuration and/or the monitored system functionality against a known or desired system configuration and/or a known or desired system functionality.

4. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
providing a software agent repository including a plurality of software agents, wherein the deploying one or more software agents on one or more devices of the system includes choosing one or more of the plurality of software agents in the software agent repository and deploying the chosen one or more software agents on the one or more devices of the system.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
defining a normal system configuration and/or a normal system functionality based on the monitored system configuration and/or the monitored system functionality;
wherein the detecting a problem in the monitored system configuration and/or the monitored system functionality includes:
detecting a problem in the monitored system configuration and/or the monitored system functionality by comparing the monitored system configuration and/or the monitored system functionality with the normal system configuration and/or the normal system functionality.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the coordinator software agent is further configured to terminate software agents on one or more devices of the system, wherein the method further includes:
terminating, by the coordinator software agent, one of the one or more software agents.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the deploying at least a coordinator software agent configured to create and deploy software agents on one or more devices of the system includes:
deploying a plurality of coordinator software agents each configured to create and deploy software agents on the one or more devices of the system.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein a fog network comprising a plurality of fog nodes is implemented on the system, wherein the deploying one or more software agents on one or more devices of the system includes deploying a software agent on one or more of the fog nodes implemented on the one or more devices.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the problem in the monitored system configuration and/or the monitored system functionality is associated with an addition or a removal of a device to or from the system.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the detecting a problem in the monitored system configuration and/or the monitored system functionality includes:
comparing the monitored system configuration and/or the monitored system functionality against a known or desired system configuration and/or a known or desired system functionality.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
providing a software agent repository including a plurality of software agents, wherein the deploying one or more software agents on one or more devices of the system includes choosing one or more of the plurality of software agents in the software agent repository and deploying the chosen one or more software agents on the one or more devices of the system.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the deploying at least a coordinator software agent configured to create and deploy software agents on one or more devices of the system includes:
deploying a plurality of coordinator software agents each configured to create and deploy software agents on the one or more devices of the system.

Assignees

• Abb Schweiz Ag

Inventors

• Eidenbenz Raphael
• Kande Mallikarjun
• Macauda Andrea
• Moga Alexandru
• Birke Robert
• Sivanthi Thanikesavan
• Kozhaya David
• Vukovic Ognjen

Classifications

• G06F11/3409

  for performance assessment · CPC title

• G06F11/3051 Primary

  Monitoring arrangements for monitoring the configuration of the computing system or of the computing system component, e.g. monitoring the presence of processing resources, peripherals, I/O links, software programs (verification or detection of system hardware configuration G06F11/2247) · CPC title

• G06F11/3006

  where the computing system is distributed, e.g. networked systems, clusters, multiprocessor systems (multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46; allocation of resources G06F9/50) · CPC title

• G06F11/0778

  Dumping, i.e. gathering error/state information after a fault for later diagnosis · CPC title

• G06F11/0736

  in functional embedded systems, i.e. in a data processing system designed as a combination of hardware and software dedicated to performing a certain function (testing or monitoring of automated control systems G05B23/02) · CPC title