Prognostics and health management based refurbishment for life extension of electronic systems

To provide an early warning of failure for cost effective maintenance to extend the life of electronic systems, there is a growing interest to perform prognostics and health management. This paper provides a review of various prognostics and health management approaches that involve sensing, parameter interpretation, anomaly detection, weak components diagnosis, system health assessment, and remaining useful life prediction. Using prognostics and health management, a method is developed for electronic system life extension based on refurbishment in this study. Research areas of prognostics and health management for electronic system life extension are suggested, and recommendations are provided for designers and manufacturers who are interested in extending the life of electronic systems via refurbishment. Following these recommendations, electronic system life cycle cost could be minimized via refurbishment.