System diagnosability analysis using model-based diagnosis tools

Computing the diagnosability of a discrete-valued system (such as an avionics system), or conversely, a set of test vectors to efficiently determine system diagnosability, is a well-known task within the area of system diagnostics. There are a number of approaches that have been adopted for this task, and many tools have been developed and are available commercially. This article describes a new approach for this task, using techniques developed within the model-based diagnostics (MBD) community. The benefits of this new approach are: (1) the same model used for system design and analysis can be used for diagnosability testing; and (2) a diagnosability model (or set of test vectors) can be compiled from the MBD model, without having to have a model for design and one for diagnosability.