Multi-component and mixed-reality simulation environments

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9639443-B2
Application number	US-201514636136-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 2, 2015
Priority date	Mar 2, 2015
Publication date	May 2, 2017
Grant date	May 2, 2017

Abstract

Systems and methods may include receiving real-time data from real components operating in a real-world environment. The systems and methods may further include generating a virtual representation of the real components based on the real-time data received from the real components and historical data associated with the real components. In addition, the systems and methods may include determining whether the real-time data from a component of the real components indicates an anomaly. The systems and methods also may include, in response to determining that the real-time data from the component indicates the anomaly, determining whether the anomaly indicated by the real-time data from the component is consistent with the virtual representation of the real components. Moreover, the systems and methods may include, in response to determining that the anomaly indicated by the real-time data from the component is not consistent with the virtual representation of the real components, determining that the component is a malfunctioning component.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
receiving real-time data from a plurality of real components operating in a real-world environment;
generating a virtual representation of the plurality of real components based on the real-time data received from the plurality of real components and historical data associated with the plurality of real components;
determining whether the real-time data from a component of the plurality of real components indicates an anomaly;
in response to determining that the real-time data from the component indicates the anomaly, determining whether the anomaly indicated by the real-time data from the component is consistent with the virtual representation of the plurality of real components; and
in response to determining that the anomaly indicated by the real-time data from the component is not consistent with the virtual representation of the plurality of real components, determining that the component is a malfunctioning component;
in response to determining that the component is the malfunctioning component:
activating a virtual component to replace the malfunctioning component, the virtual component using the virtual representation of the plurality of real components to generate real-time virtual data; and
controlling the virtual component to transmit the real-time virtual data to other components of the plurality of real components in place of the real-time data from the malfunctioning component.

2. The method of claim 1 ,
in response to determining that the component is the malfunctioning component:
activating a remote component to replace the malfunctioning component; and
controlling the remote component to perform a function previously performed by the malfunctioning component.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein determining whether the anomaly indicated by the real-time data from the component is consistent with the virtual representation of the plurality of real components comprises:
determining whether a difference between values of the real-time data and corresponding values of the data generated by the virtual representation of the plurality of real time components exceeds a threshold level.

4. The method of claim 1 ,
in response to determining that the component is the malfunctioning component:
generating substitute real-time data to replace the real-time data from the malfunctioning component based on the real-time data received from other components of the plurality of real components, the other components being different from the malfunctioning component; and
using the substitute real-time data in place of the real-time data from the malfunctioning component when subsequently generating the virtual representation of the plurality of real components.

5. The method of claim 1 ,
wherein the virtual representation of the plurality of real components includes a predicted range of data values for the component,
wherein the predicted range of data values for the component are generated in real-time based on the real-time data received from other components of the plurality of real components and the historical data associated with the plurality of real components, and
wherein determining whether the anomaly indicated by the real-time data from the component is consistent with the virtual representation of the plurality of real components comprises:
determining that the anomaly indicated by the real-time data from the component is consistent with the virtual representation of the plurality of real components if the real-time data from the component is within the predicted range of data values for the component; and
determining that the anomaly indicated by the real-time data from the component is not consistent with the virtual representation of the plurality of real components if the real-time data from the component is not within the predicted range of data values for the component.

6. The method of claim 1 ,
wherein generating the virtual representation of the plurality of real components comprises generating real-time statistical information describing aggregate data from similar components of the plurality of real components in aggregate, the aggregate data including real-time data received from both a first group of components of the plurality of real components and a second group of components of the plurality of real components, the first group of components being operated by a first entity, and the second group of components being operated by a second entity, and
wherein the method further comprises:
controlling access to the real-time data received from the second group of components, such that the first entity is prohibited from accessing the real-time data received from the second group of components;
controlling access to the real-time data received from the first group of components, such that the second entity is prohibited from accessing the real-time data received from the first group of components; and
controlling access to the real-time statistical information describing the aggregate data, such that both the first entity and the second entity are provided with access to the real-time statistical information describing the aggregate data.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining whether the anomaly indicated by the real-time data from the component is consistent with the virtual representation of the plurality of real components comprises:
determining whether a difference between values of the real-time data and corresponding values of the data generated by the virtual representation of the plurality of real time components exceeds a threshold level.

8. A system comprising:
a processing system configured to:
receive real-time data from a plurality of real components operating in a real-world environment;
generate a virtual representation of the plurality of real components based on the real-time data received from the plurality of real components and historical data associated with the plurality of real components;
determine whether the real-time data from a component of the plurality of real components indicates an anomaly;
in response to determining that the real-time data from the component indicates the anomaly, determine whether the anomaly indicated by the real-time data from the component is consistent with the virtual representation of the plurality of real components; and

in response to determining that the anomaly indicated by the real-time data from the component is not consistent with the virtual representation of the plurality of real components, determine that the component is a malfunctioning component,
wherein, when determining whether the anomaly indicated by the real-time data from the component is consistent with the virtual representation of the plurality of real components, the processing system is configured to:
determine whether a difference between values of the real-time data and corresponding values of the data generated by the virtual representation of the plurality of real time components exceeds a threshold level.

9. The system according to claim 8 ,
wherein the processing system is further configured to, in response to determining that the component is the malfunctioning component:
activate a virtual component to replace the malfunctioning component, the virtual component using the virtual representation of the plurality of real components to generate real-time virtual data; and
control the virtual component to transmit the real-time virtual data to other components of the plurality of real components in place of the real-time data from the malfunctioning component.

10. The system of claim 9 ,
wherein the virtual representation of the plurality of real compon

Assignees

• Greenspan Steven L
• Danielson Debra J
• Reno James D
• Kane John P
• Parikh Prashant
• Ca Inc

Inventors

• Greenspan Steven L
• Danielson Debra J
• Reno James D
• Kane John P
• Parikh Prashant

Classifications

• G06F11/261 Primary

  by simulating additional hardware, e.g. fault simulation · CPC title

• G06F11/079

  Root cause analysis, i.e. error or fault diagnosis (in a hardware test environment G06F11/22; in a software test environment G06F11/36) · CPC title

• G06F11/0739

  in a data processing system embedded in automotive or aircraft systems · CPC title

• G06F11/0709

  in a distributed system consisting of a plurality of standalone computer nodes, e.g. clusters, client-server systems · CPC title

• G06F11/263

  Generation of test inputs, e.g. test vectors, patterns or sequences {; with adaptation of the tested hardware for testability with external testers} · CPC title