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Integrating reliability analysis into MBSE for FPGA-based safety critical I&C system design in nuclear power plants

  • Fanyu Wang EMAIL logo , Yang Zhao , Jinyu He , Qi Chen , Minjie Lei , Yang Zhao and Heng Wang
Published/Copyright: July 26, 2024
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Abstract

With the widespread application of Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) technology in the instrumentation and control (I&C) systems of nuclear power plants (NPPs), its design reliability has become the key to ensuring the subsequent safe operation of NPPs. However, the traditional document-based design method is no longer sufficient to meet the current design needs of complex systems, and there is a lack of research related to the reliability and security analysis of FPGA-based systems. Therefore, the overall goal of this study is to integrate reliability analysis into the model-based systems engineering (MBSE)-based design of FPGA-based I&C systems. Based on the typical application characteristics of the FPGA, a digital design framework for FPGA-based systems is proposed to realize a traceable design process from requirements to implementation. Subsequently, a model-based forward comprehensive reliability analysis method is proposed, which uses a SysML-based mapping mechanism to integrate Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) and Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) methods into the design process, so as to comprehensively identify and analyze failure modes from systems to components and optimize and improve system design. Finally, the proposed method is applied to the analog output design of FPGA-based systems. The proposed method can provide guidance for improving the reliability of FPGA-based DI&C systems and provide theoretical basis for the further engineering application.


Corresponding author: Fanyu Wang, Science and Technology on Reactor System Design Technology Laboratory, Nuclear Power Institute of China, Chengdu 610213, China, E-mail:

Award Identifier / Grant number: 2022YFB3305200

  1. Research ethics: Not applicable.

  2. Author contributions: The authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript and approved its submission.

  3. Competing interests: The authors state no conflict of interest.

  4. Research funding: National Key R&D Program of China (2022YFB3305200).

  5. Data availability: Not applicable.

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Received: 2024-04-09
Accepted: 2024-06-20
Published Online: 2024-07-26
Published in Print: 2024-08-27

© 2024 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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