Combinatorial Techniques for Fault Identification in Multiterminal Networks

A procedure is proposed for identification and diagnosis of faults in multiterminal devices. A combinatorial technique determines the number of x-terminal y-port nonredundant sub-networks which can be generated from a z-terminal parent network. This information is intended to identify and isolate internal faults of the system through an optimal set of external measurements. An elementary tutorial introduction to the terminology and procedures of combinatorial analysis aims to make this account self-contained and useful to the reliability engineer without a specialized mathematical background. Four-terminal and five-terminal devices are examined first. The results are then so formulated as to yield algorithms for computer-oriented procedures to identify the complete set of nonredundant configurations of a multiterminal network. The flowchart of operations suitable for a computer program is presented.