Patent ID: 6901350

Claim:
A method of monitoring a functioning of a system, the system including at least one lower-level subsystem, and the system being a component of a higher-level system, the system including components implemented as hardware, including at least one of at least one sensor, at least one actuator, and at least one function computer, the method comprising: checking at least one input signal, at least one output signal and at least one function unit of the system; and subdividing hierarchically an intended function of the system as a function of the complexity of the intended function, the intended function being subdivided into at least one subsystem function that is subdivided into at least one function unit; wherein: in a first monitoring layer, the at least one function unit of the system is checked on the basis of at least one of at least one input signal and at least one output signal of the at least one function unit; in a second monitoring layer, at a higher level than the first monitoring layer, the at least one function unit is checked on the basis of at least one of at least one input signal and at least one output signal of at least one subsystem assigned to the at least one function unit; and in at least one additional monitoring layer, at a higher level than the second monitoring layer, the at least one function unit is checked on the basis of at least one of the at least one input signal and the at least one output signal of the system.