A Generalized Minimal Hitting-Set Algorithm to Handle Diagnosis With Behavioral Modes

To handle diagnosis with behavioral modes, a new generalized minimal hitting-set algorithm is presented. The key properties in comparison with that of the original minimal hitting-set algorithm given by de Kleer and Williams are that it can handle more than two modes per component and also nonpositive conflicts. The algorithm computes a logical formula that characterizes all diagnoses. Instead of minimal or kernel diagnoses, some specific conjunctions in the logical formula are used to characterize the diagnoses. These conjunctions are a generalization of both minimal and kernel diagnoses. From the logical formulas, it is also easy to derive the set of preferred diagnoses. One usage of the algorithm is fault isolation in the sense of fault detection and isolation (FDI). The algorithm is experimentally shown to provide significantly better performance compared to the fault isolation approach based on structured residuals, which is commonly used in FDI.