Fault isolation in analog circuits using a fuzzy inference system

This paper introduces a fuzzy inference system (FIS) for single analog fault diagnosis. The ability of fuzzy logic to encode structured knowledge in a numerical framework is exploited in isolating faults in analog circuits. A training set that simulates the behaviour of the circuit due to a set of anticipated single faults as well as the fault-free situation is first constructed. For each anticipated fault, this set relates the circuit measurements to the corresponding deviation in the faulty circuit element from its nominal. These measurements and the deviations in circuit elements are both fuzzified into appropriate linguistic fuzzy values. A fuzzy rule base for each fault that characterizes the circuit response by linking symptoms to causes is built. The outputs of the fuzzy rule bases are then defuzzified to recover crisp values for the deviations in circuit elements. A fault diagnosis procedure that utilizes the proposed FIS is also presented along with a brief analysis and comparison with a number of existing artificial intelligence-based techniques. A test example that demonstrates the potential of this procedure in fault isolation is illustrated. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.