Complex systems are composed of numerous interconnected subsystems, each designed to perform specific functions. The different subsystems use many technological items that work together, as for the case of cyber-physical systems. Typically, a cyber-physical system is composed of different mechanical actuators driven by electrical power devices and monitored by sensors. Several approaches are available for designing and validating complex systems, and among them, behavioral-level modeling is becoming one of the most popular. When such cyber-physical systems are employed in mission- or safety-critical applications, it is mandatory to understand the impacts of faults on them and how failures in subsystems can propagate through the overall system. In this paper, we propose a methodology for supporting the failure mode, effects, and criticality analysis (FMECA) aimed at identifying the critical faults and assessing their effects on the overall system. The end goal is to analyze how a fault affecting a single subsystem possibly propagates through the whole cyber-physical system, considering also the embedded software and the mechanical elements. In particular, our approach allows the analysis of the propagation through the whole system (working at high level) of a fault injected at low level. This paper provides a solution to automate the FMECA process (until now mainly performed manually) for complex cyber-physical systems. It improves the failure classification effectiveness: considering our test case, it reduced the number of critical faults from 10 to 6. The remaining four faults are mitigated by the cyber-physical system architecture. The proposed approach has been tested on a real cyber-physical system in charge of driving a three-phase motor for industrial compressors, showing its feasibility and effectiveness.
In this article, a three-leg interleaved boost Power Factor Corrector (IBPFC) converter for energy-efficient LED lighting systems connected to the main grid was discussed. This IBPFC circuit presented features 60 kHz of commutation frequency and up to 3 kW of power rating. The controlled rectifier front-end boost PFC supplied a DC/DC converter to drive power LEDs suitable for street lighting or a lighting system for a stadium, etc. The IBPFC operated in continuous current mode (CCM). The ripple impact of the IBPFC converter was analyzed and a novel methodology of inductance design was presented. In the proposed design approach, the derivative calculation of the current ripple peak compared with the derivative of the input current was used to define a critical inductance value to ensure the CCM condition. Experimental validation was provided on a 3kW prototype.
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