US5289377A
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Fault-tolerant solid-state flight data recorder
Assignee: Northrop Grumman Space and Mission Systems Corp
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Filing: 1991-08-12
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Granted: 1994-02-22
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Expires: 2011-08-12
Abstract
Abstract A flight data recorder for reliable, high-speed storage of flight data employs a distributed, modular architecture in which an array of controller/memory modules is arranged in parallel controller/memory chains and the memory in the individual controller/memory modules is partitioned into submodules. This distributed architecture allows failed controller/memory modules or failed memory submodules to be bypassed, thus providing fault tolerances for both controller and memory functions. The modular architecture allows the number of controller/memory modules to be easily configured to accommodate any required storage size, while the number of parallel controller/memory chains can be configured to accommodate any required data rate.
Inventors
- 👤 Timothy A. Yokote
- 👤 Eric L. Upton
- 👤 Arthur G. Enyedy
- 👤 Grant J. Stockton
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-28 23:07
CPC Classifications
G; G11; G11C; G11C5/00; G11C5/02; G11C5/04
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 26
Claim 1
Independent Claim
116 words
A fault-tolerant flight data recorder, comprising: a demultiplexer for converting a serial input data stream into a parallel data stream; a distributed array of controller/memory modules arranged in one or more parallel controller/memory chains for storing the parallel data stream, the controller/memory modules being arranged in parallel pairs in each controller/memory chain, the memory in each controller/memory module being partitioned into memory submodules to allow failed controller/memory modules or failed memory submodules to be bypassed to provide fault tolerance for both controller and memory functions; and a multiplexer for converting the parallel data stream from the controller/memory chains into a serial output data stream when the parallel data stream is retrieved from the flight data recorder.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
116 words
A fault-tolerant flight data recorder, comprising: a demultiplexer for converting a serial input data stream into a parallel data stream; a distributed array of controller/memory modules arranged in one or more parallel controller/memory chains for storing the parallel data stream, the controller/memory modules being arranged in parallel pairs in each controller/memory chain, the memory in each controller/memory module being partitioned into memory submodules to allow failed controller/memory modules or failed memory submodules to be bypassed to provide fault tolerance for both controller and memory functions; and a multiplexer for converting the parallel data stream from the controller/memory chains into a serial output data stream when the parallel data stream is retrieved from the flight data recorder.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
53 words
The fault-tolerant flight data recorder as set forth in claim 1, and further including: an error correction encoder for encoding the data for error correction before storage in the controller/memory chains; and an error correction decoder for correcting the data for any errors when the data is retrieved from the flight data recorder.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
38 words
The fault-tolerant flight data recorder as set forth in claim 2, wherein the demultiplexer and the error correction encoder include a pair of parallel demultiplexers and a pair of parallel error correction encoders to provide redundant input channels.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
38 words
The fault-tolerant flight data recorder as set forth in claim 2, wherein the multiplexer and the error correction decoder include a pair of parallel multiplexers and a pair of parallel error correction decoders to provide redundant output channels.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
37 words
The fault-tolerant flight data recorder as set forth in claim 3, wherein each controller/memory chain includes an input channel selector for switching from one input channel to the other if a failure occurs in one input channel.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
37 words
The fault-tolerant flight data recorder as set forth in claim 4, wherein each controller/memory chain includes an output channel selector for switching from one output channel to the other if a failure occurs in one output channel.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
28 words
The fault-tolerant flight data recorder as set forth in claim 1, wherein each controller/memory module includes: a controller for performing various control functions for the flight data recorder.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
40 words
The fault-tolerant flight data recorder as set forth in claim 7, wherein the controller in each controller/memory module is connected by a data bus and a controller bus to the two controllers in the following parallel pair of controller/memory modules.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
49 words
The fault-tolerant flight data recorder as set forth in claim 8, wherein the controllers perform five basic control functions, the five basic control functions being a reset mode, a controller test mode for identifying and bypassing failed controllers, a memory test mode for ing parallel pair of controller/memory modules.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
111 words
The fault-tolerant flight data recorder as set forth in claim 9, wherein each controller includes: a port multiplexer for receiving data and control signals on the data and control buses from a designated controller in the preceding parallel pair of controller/memory modules; a data register for temporarily storing data and control signals; controller test means for performing the controller test on the two controllers in the following parallel pair of controller/memory modules; a memory controller for controlling and addressing the memory module; and memory test means for performing the memory test on the memory submodules, a memory submodule being found defective only if the number of errors exceeds some preset threshold.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
54 words
A fault-tolerant data recorder, comprising: one or more parallel controller/memory chains for storing data, the controller/memory modules being arranged in parallel pairs in each controller/memory chain, each controller/memory chain having a distributed array of controller/memory modules to allow failed controller/memory modules to be bypassed to provide fault tolerance for both controller and memory functions.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
54 words
A fault-tolerant data recorder, comprising: one or more parallel controller/memory chains for storing data, the controller/memory modules being arranged in parallel pairs in each controller/memory chain, each controller/memory chain having a distributed array of controller/memory modules to allow failed controller/memory modules to be bypassed to provide fault tolerance for both controller and memory functions.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
61 words
The fault-tolerant data recorder as set forth in claim 11, and further including: a demultiplexer for converting a serial input data stream into a parallel data stream for storage in the controller/memory chains; and a multiplexer for converting the parallel data stream from the controller/memory chains into a serial output data stream when the data is retrieved from the data recorder.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
51 words
The fault-tolerant data recorder as set forth in claim 12, and further including: an error correction encoder for encoding the data for error correction before storage in the controller/memory chains; and an error correction decoder for correcting the data for any errors when the data is retrieved from the data recorder.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
37 words
The fault-tolerant data recorder as set forth in claim 12, wherein each controller/memory module includes: a controller for performing various control functions for the data recorder; and a memory module partitioned into submodules for storing the data.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
39 words
The fault-tolerant data recorder as set forth in claim 14, wherein the controller in each controller/memory module is connected by a data bus and a controller bus to the two controllers in the following parallel pair of controller/memory modules.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
57 words
The fault-tolerant data recorder as set forth in claim 15, wherein the controllers perform five basic control functions, the control functions or modes of operation being a reset mode, a controller test mode for identifying and bypassing failed controllers, a memory test mode for identifying and bypassing failed memory submodules, a write mode and a read mode.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
110 words
The fault-tolerant data recorder as set forth in claim 16, wherein each controller includes: a port multiplexer for receiving data and control signals on the data and control buses from a designated controller in the preceding parallel pair of controller/memory modules; a data register for temporarily storing data and control signals; controller test means for performing the controller test on the two controllers in the following parallel pair of controller/memory modules; a memory controller for controlling and addressing the memory module; and memory test means for performing the memory test on the memory submodules, a memory submodule being found defective only if the number of errors exceeds some preset threshold.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
57 words
A fault-tolerant method for storing data, comprising the step of: storing data in one or more parallel controller/memory chains, the controller/memory modules being arranged in parallel pairs in each controller/memory chain, each controller/memory chain having a distributed array of controller/memory modules in which failed controller/memory modules are bypassed to provide fault tolerance for both controller and memory.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
57 words
A fault-tolerant method for storing data, comprising the step of: storing data in one or more parallel controller/memory chains, the controller/memory modules being arranged in parallel pairs in each controller/memory chain, each controller/memory chain having a distributed array of controller/memory modules in which failed controller/memory modules are bypassed to provide fault tolerance for both controller and memory.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
59 words
The fault-tolerant data storage method as set forth in claim 18, and further including the steps of: converting a serial input data stream into a parallel data stream for storage in the controller/memory chains; and converting the parallel data stream from the controller/memory chains into a serial output data stream when the data is retrieved from the data recorder.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
45 words
The fault-tolerant data storage method as set forth in claim 19, and further including the steps of: encoding the data for error correction before storage in the controller/memory chains; and correcting the data for any errors when the data is retrieved from the data recorder.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
38 words
The fault-tolerant data storage method as set forth in claim 18, wherein each controller/memory module includes a controller for performing various control functions for the data recorder and a memory module partitioned into submodules for storing the data.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
40 words
The fault-tolerant data storage method as set forth in claim 21, wherein the controller in each controller/memory module is connected by a data bus and a controller bus to the two controllers in the following parallel pair of controller/memory modules.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
58 words
The fault-tolerant data storage method as set forth in claim 22, wherein the controllers perform five basic control functions, the control functions or modes of operation being a reset mode, a controller test mode for identifying and bypassing failed controllers, a memory test mode for identifying and bypassing failed memory submodules, a write mode and a read mode.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1997-02-21 | 1997-08-23 | 1998-02-22 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2001-02-21 | 2001-08-23 | 2002-02-22 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2005-02-21 | 2005-08-23 | 2006-02-22 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |