Measurement 95041--Pro318

The auto-diagnosis system of an

intelligent measuring instrument

F. F e r r a r i s and M . P a r v i s
Dipartimento di Automatica e Informatica, Politecnico di Torino,
Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129, Torino, Italy

The methodological aspects and the design of the automatic self-diagnosis (auto-
diagnosis) system of a high-performance measuring instrument for electrical
quantities are described. The auto-diagnosis system can recognise ~not only severe
failures which require out-of-service instrument setting, but also slight failures simply
affecting accuracy or not basic features; in the latter case, the instrument is set
working in degraded conditions. The auto-diagnosis process is performed making
reference to the instrument architecture, based on independent and interconnected
functional units, and using an analysis technique, called 'extending ring', to detect
failing subsystems.
The auto-diagnosis system is divided into two main parts, conceived for separate
aims: one is named 'off-line full test auto-diagnosis system' and performs, at power
up or on user request, a full comprehensive test; the other, named 'on-line
auto-diagnosis system', continuously monitors the instrument behaviour while
operating normally to reveal failures or error conditions that can derate the whole
performance.

Keywords: measuring instrument, microprocessor, auto-diagnosis, extending ring

Introduction results of the auto-diagnosis procedures are not only

The auto-diagnosis system in a high-performance
microprocessor-based measurement instrument is not an
optional feature. Such apparatus is so complex and
available data processing features so powerful that not
only must the failure diagnosis be performed by experi-
enced testers, but the very existence of a failure may be
difficult to notice; in fact, slight failures may easily be
misunderstood and remain unrecognised if only measure-
ment results are considered, so that the instrument may
be kept in use even if uncertainties are out of the rated
values.
In this article we describe the auto-diagnosis system
of a particular high-performance measuring instrument
(see Parvis, 1986, and Ferraris et al, 1987, for the
description of the whole apparatus), but the metho-
dological aspects and the design features can be extended
to most intelligent measuring systems.
The auto-diagnosis is obviously carried out on both
digital and analogue circuits, but, for the sake of brevity,
in this article we point out only the analogue circuits and
related digital ones, rather well known techniques having
been used for the merely digital circuitry,
Auto-diagnosis philosophy
It is worth stating that we intend to use the term 'auto-
diagnosis' in a quite wide sense: in our meaning, the
'pass-fail' responses, but also statements such as 'the
instrument is being used in degraded conditions' (ac-
curacy or feature loss); such conditions cannot usually be
detected by inspecting measurement results only, but
require a more complete test to be executed.
The auto-diagnosis method is referred to the chosen
instrument architecture, which is based on strongly
independent functional units (the most important are
pointed out in Ferraris et al, 1987) and has a high level of
modularity. The management section, microprocessor-
based, is logically separate from the data conversion,
acquisition and processing systems; information is
interchanged by a fast and simple communication
protocol.
To perform the tests, the well known loop-back techni-
que has been chosen - i e, information is 'written' into the
tested unit using digital or analogue signals (stimuli) and
the unit outputs (responses) are 'read' through the
management section communication lines; then the man-
agement section performs failure detection by means of
the stimuli and responses knowledge, processed accord-
ing to a functional model of the unit under test.
The auto-diagnosis philosophy, carried out for the
analogue and the related digital devices, is based on tests
performed by an 'extending ring' technique. In Fig 1 two
successive steps of such a process are sketched. In the first
the DUT (Device Under Test) 1 is tested, linking the
decision unit to the DUT 1 input and output channels
(suitably chosen) by means of a stimulation unit and a

176 Measurement Vol 5 No 4, Oct-Dec 1987

 Ferraris and Parvis

o)
DISCONNECTED
TESTING SYSTEM } INPUTS

IDUT2 I

I i DISCONNECTED
DECISION I OUTPUTS
UNIT

T i
D,NO
. L I
UNIT F

_ __ J

b)
DISCONNECTED DISCONNECTED
TESTINGSYSTEM I INPUTS INPUTS

STIMULATION {
UNIT
7J I q DUT 2 -- - -

I I DISCONNECTED
OUTPUTS
DISCONNECTED
OUTPUTS
Fig 1 'Extending ring' auto-diag-
nosis process example:
I 0Ec,s,ON I (a) First step: The DUT 1 is being
UNIT tested. The inputs and outputs of
the D UT 2 are disconnected. The
J T non-involved DUT 1 inputs and
outputs are disconnected
I I "D,N0 L I (b) Secondstep: The DUT 2 is being
UNIT F tested, using D UT 1 jor informa-
J tionflow. The non-involved inputs
and outputs are disconnected

reading unit; the D U T 1 inputs (and, when necessary,
some outputs) not related to the auto-diagnosis process
are disconnected. In the second step the test is extended to
the D U T 2 with the same ring structure, using the already
tested D U T 1 as a communication channel. Therefore, in
a typical step, the information interchange between
testing system and component under test is carried out by
means of a ring in which devices tested in previous steps
are also involved.
According to this philosophy, the whole functional unit
test is performed first on the devices which compose the
unit communication core (for example, buses and related
drivers); then it is progressively extended to the remaining
devices as far as the unit is completely tested.
This approach is particularly suitable for measurement
instrumentation analogue circuits, in which, in general, it
is easy to find out cascade or loop connections between
components, having few input channels. In this case, it is
also rather easy to design and implement simple hardware
solutions for connecting and disconnecting the devices to
be tested.
Measurement Vol 5 No 4, Oct-Dec 1987
To satisfy the auto-diagnosis process exigencies, some
rules must be followed:
A Key points must be found out and auxiliary circuitry
must be added for stimulating purposes, in order to
make it possible to observe the functional unit res-
ponse from pre-defined initial conditions.
B It must be possible to disconnect and settle to a known
value the functional unit inputs, when not involved in
an auto-diagnostic procedure.
C The outputs and some internal quantities of every
functional unit must be made available to the manage-
ment section.
D It must be possible to open feedback loops, in order
to remove their failure masking effects.
E The clock rate must be selectable, to allow the instru-
ment to run more slowly during the auto-diagnosis
process.
In our instrument these features have been mainly
obtained with a careful initial design. It is also worthwhile
pointing out that the auto-calibration circuits are, to a
177
Ferraris and Parvis
great extent, suitable for the auto-diagnosis process; so,
only a little amount of additional circuitry was needed.
Auto-diagnosis system
Generalities
The whole auto-diagnosis process is split into several
specific tests, shown in the next paragraphs, performed
on the functional units to be proved. Each of them
interacts with the functional units which perform the
management of the instrument, as shown in Fig 2.
In order to execute a test, the auto-diagnosis system
manages its stimulating circuits and directly reads the
responses ('stimulator' and 'reader' circuits in the figure).
it is obvious that when, as mentioned at the end of the
preceding paragraph, circuits and procedures needed for
auto-calibration are also suitable for the auto-diagnosis
process, the auto-diagnosis system simply drives the
auto-calibration tasks and reads the corresponding
results.
Then, for every test, a diagnostic decision is taken using
stimuli and responses information. Possible results are:
(a) OK: everything is working well.
(b) lneipient .failure: peculiar to some slowly evolving
failures, it is detected on the basis of related auxiliary
quantities measurement (for example, the decreasing
commutation speed of digital components or the
increasing temperature of analogue devices). This
condition does not affect any feature or the accuracy,
but must be considered, because of its possible
consequences.
(c) Loss qf accuracy: this warning is sent when some
component (usually an analogue one) is working
badly, in such a way that only an accuracy loss results.
(d) Slight[hilure: it regards failures of components which
perform functions not affecting basic instrument
working; thus, the user can still use the instrument,
although without some feature.
(e) Severe.failure: this failure concerns components which
affect the basic instrument working or which are
possible sources of failure propagation to other
devices; in this case, the safety circuits are started and
the instrument is set out of service.
Information from all performed tests is processed by
the management section and the operator is given one
of the following possible messages, which are directly
related to each of the five test results listed above 1'
(A) OK: instrument usable
(B) Incipient failure: instrument usable, but to be serviced
(C) Loss of accuracy: instrument working in degraded
conditions
(D) Slight failure: instrument working in degraded
conditions
(E) Severe failure: instrument not usable.
The block diagram in Fig 3 sketches visually the whole
process, also pointing out other operations performed by
the auto-diagnosis system.
If the instrument is usable (cases A, B, C or D), after
processing the test results and the content of the historical
memory (see next paragraph), a short-term performance
Note 1 It is obvious that:
(a) the combination of more than one fault may give rise to
an overall malfunctioning of a new kind (eg, two slight
failures may correspond to a severe failure);
(b) unless expressly stated, it is convenient to stop auto-
diagnosis and to send a fault message - when an overall
severe failure condition is revealed.

STIMULI ~ ~I~ ESTIMATED

CORRECTION MEASUREMENT
AUTOCALIBRATION AND UNCERTANTIES
UNCERTAINTIES
RESPONSES PROCESS ESTIMATION
q PROCESSES
COMMANDS RESULTS

FUNCTIONAL AUTODIAGNOSIS
O.K. -T
LOSS OF ACC.
j
I.~l
MANAGEMENT
-1 TO THE
USER
INClP. FAIL. J
UNIT TESTS
SLIGHT FAIL. 3
SECTION
UNDER TEST
SEVEREFAIL.~I r I

AUTODIAGNOSIS PROCESS
[__ J
SAFETY
CIRCUITS

Fig 2 The auto-diagnosis process interactions with the other functional processes
178 M e a s u r e m e n t Vol 5 No 4, Oct-Dec 1987
 Ferraris and Parvis

~ ULI

~ ENVIRONM.AND
ANALYSS., J

PERFORMANCE
PREVISION

Fig 3 Full-test auto-diagnosis block diagram

prevision is emitted. The test results will also be used,
m normal working, to correct the measurements carried
out and to improve the uncertainties estimation.
If any problem arises during tests (cases B, C or D), a
failure analysis is performed to obtain reparation aids
and hypotheses about failures aggravation are presented.
In terms of operating tasks, the complete auto-
diagnosis system can be logically split into two major
tasks, conceived for separate aims:
• full-test off-line auto-diagnosis;
• on-line fast test.
Each of these is highlighted in the next paragraphs.
Full-test auto-diagnosis
This task performs the complete test set inside the
instrument and checks over the metrological and func-
tional performances.
Test running is incompatible with normal working, so
it is carried out off-line, at power up, on user request
or when the on-line fast test detects serious problems.
For a good test a hardware improvement is usually
required, but, as mentioned above, this is not normally

INPUT SIGNAL
SUCC. APPR. A/D CONV. COMPAR.
OUTPUT
= "-F °

MAIN ] CONVERT.
I D/ACONV. [ D/A CONV. OUTPUT
?, >

I PROGRAMM. S. A. R. h
VOLTAGE S-
REFERENCE II
T~ PARALLEL
SAR INPUT
II
is
COMMAND

Fig 4 A simplified high-performance instrument input stage designed to be suitable for the diagnosis process. Dashed
lines indicate the new access points. PA : programmable amplifier, C: comparator, SAR: successive approximation register
Measurement Vol 5 No 4, Oct-Dec1987 179
Ferraris and Parvis
a severe problem because of the slight modifications
needed. A simple example, clarifying the concept, is
sketched in Fig 4, where a simplified high-performance
instrument input stage is presented: a powerful test can
be easily carried out with only two access points (high-
lighted in the figure with dashed lines and italic
characters) 2.
The analogue full-test auto-diagnosis can be viewed as
a superset of the self-calibrating procedures and is carried
out in two steps.
I The first step is just a static calibration cycle performed
by means of a calibration standard. The scaling and
correction parameters extracted in this step are used
to calibrate the measuring channels, but are also stored
and compared with the old parameters recorded in a
permanent memory (environmental and historical
memory); in such a way a calibration history is
obtained, allowing the prediction of the short-time
behaviour by means of a previously identified degrad-
ation model.
2 In the second step the instrument behaviour is checked
under dynamic conditions by means of 'analogue
stimuli' provided inside the apparatus. We have used
three types of stimuli:
• Slow triangular waves, to monitor all the A/D
converter states, revealing problems as missing
codes.
• Programmable fast triangular waves, to test the
measuring channels at high-speed sampling rate,
revealing problems as slew-rate limitations.
• Microsteps superimposed on a programmable con-
stant voltage (see also Souders, 1982), to monitor
the fast dynamic response of both converter and
signal conditioning devices, revealing problems as
parasitic oscillations.
On-line fast test
While operating, the complete test set and the sophistic-
ated results analysis described above are not strictly
necessary, but it is important only to warrant the user
that the instrument still meets the main specifications.
The requirement is obtained in two ways:
I Hardware critical elements (for example, A/D converter
Note 2 A possible test procedure can be sketched as follows:
(a) Digital tests are performed by loading, via parallel input,
suitable patterns to the Successive Approximation
Register (SAR) and by monitoring the converter output.
(b) Functional tests are executed on comparator and bias
D/A converter, using the latter D/A to force comparator
switching.
(c) Functional and static characteristic tests on D/A con-
verters are obtained by monitoring the comparator out-
put while both D/A converters are handled.
(d) Auto-calibration of the A/D converter is performed,
using the programmable voltage reference.
(e) Dynamic tests on the A/D converter are executed using
the bias D/A converter as stimulator and presetting the
main D/A converter by the SAR parallel input.
180
and programmable amplifier) are continuously tested
to reveal potentially dangerous failures while still in
asymptomatic stage; test results are then processed in
order to obtain a fail-safe behaviour. The monitoring
process can be:
• direct, ie, applied to the potentially dangerous
quantities (for example, voltages or currents in
selected points measured and checked with bound
values);
• indirect, ie, applied to quantities related to normal
work (for example, the temperatures of some com-
ponents or the instrument supply current).
2 As frequently as possible (at the end of the measuring
interval or during the acquisition process, if the samp-
ling rate allows it), known standard signals are
measured and measurement results are compared with
the known values.
ifa failure or accuracy loss is recognised, the instrument
automatically stops the normal working and starts the
full-test procedures.
Conclusions
The main characteristics of an auto-diagnosis system
designed for a specific instrument have been presented.
Methodological aspects and solutions adopted are refer-
red to an instrument architecture of such a generality that
can be easily extended to most intelligent measuring
systems.
Particular emphasis has been given to a test strategy
based on an 'extending ring' technique, suitable for
instruments whose functional units architecture is well
definable.
The described auto-diagnosis process requires only
little hardware improvements due to the strong con-
nection between it and other processes; in particular, the
auto-calibration one, which allows it to share significant
parts of the circuitry.
The system has not been completely implemented yet,
but it seems to be suitable for this kind of apparatus,
especially if it will be realised (as it has been planned) as
an 'expert system' whose task is to manage the auto-
diagnosis procedures, modifying them, if necessary,
according to the exigencies of high-level users and the
evolutional history of the instrument itself.
References
Ferraris, F., Gorini, I. and Parvis, M. 1987. 'Intelligent
multi-input instrument for electrical measurements',
Measurement, 5(2), 55--60.
Parvis, M. 1986. 'Strumento intelligente per la misura di
grandezze elettriche', Doctorate thesis by Politecnico
di Torino.
Souders, T. M. 1982. 'A dynamic test method for high-
resolution A/D converters' I E E E Trans on I M , IM-
31,1,3 5.
M e a s u r e m e n t Vol 5 No 4, Oct-Dec 1987