Patent ID: 8032334

Claim:
A data processing system for dynamically selecting sensor subsets for sampling based on time criticality, the data processing system comprising: determining means for determining a rise time function of a time required for a sensor to go from a first predetermined value to a second predetermined value that define a range of interest for each of a plurality of sensors in a system; recording means for recording values of the plurality of sensors; determining means for determining a time criticality for each sensor in the plurality of sensors based on the determined rise time function of each sensor; processing means for processing the plurality of sensors in the system, wherein the processing of the plurality of sensors further comprises: creating means for creating sensor subsets within the plurality of sensors in the system based on one or more constraints of the plurality of sensors; monitoring means for monitoring the values of sensors in a first sensor subset; determining means, responsive to reading the values of the sensors in the first sensor subset, for determining whether a value of a sensor in the first sensor subset plus the determined rise time function of the sensor will exceed a threshold constraint prior to a next scheduled read of the first sensor subset; flagging means, responsive to a determination that the value of the sensor in the first sensor subset plus the determined rise time function of the sensor will exceed the threshold constraint prior to the next scheduled read of the first sensor subset, for flagging the sensor; and moving means for moving the flagged sensor to a second sensor subset which complies with the constraints on the flagged sensor.