Patent ID: 6843060

Claim:
A fault management method for a dual channel electronic engine control system, the method comprising the steps of: a) providing an electronic engine control system having a first channel and a second channel, wherein each of the first and second channels have a plurality of components associated therewith each having a predicted failure rate, the components in the second channel being substantially identical to the components in the first channel; b) designating, for each of the plurality of components in the first channel, which of the plurality of components in the second channel are single thread components required to cover a failure of that particular first channel component; c) detecting whether any one of the plurality of components in the first channel have failed; d) estimating a total failure rate based on the failure rates for all of the single thread components required to cover any failed components; and e) predicting the time remaining to fix the electronic control system faults based on the total failure rate.