Global generic model for reliability analysis of the digital instrumentation and control systems

Formal modeling techniques for the analysis of the Digital Instrument and Control system (DI and C) by High level Petri net (HLP-net) is proposed in this paper. HLP-net is an extension of Petri net is a powerful modeling technique to model the discrete event system. The proposed model uses the hierarchical modeling capability of HLP-net, which includes different levels of abstraction, in order to offer quite general and generic method for a large scale DI and C system behavior. This paper uses the digital reactor protection system as the example system that is adopted as the generic model for the safety I and C system. The designer can choose the specific level of abstraction and use the model to simulate and verify the DI and C system design. And both the hardware and software reliability are integrated in the proposed model. By using this proposed model not only the simulation of dynamic behavior is possible, but also the formal verification of the DI and C system properties becomes enabled based on the proposed HLP-net model. (author)