Real-Time Diagnosis of Wire Degradation Based on Digital Signal Analysis

The wiring system of electronics is often exposed to operational and environmental stress conditions during the lifetime of use condition. As the wiring system ages, these stress conditions degrade the material properties of wires and eventually lead to wire failures that result in arcing and electromagnetic emissions. In order to prevent wire failures, various approaches to diagnosing wire degradation such as X-ray inspection, resistance analysis and reflectometry methods have been attempted mainly for routine maintenance. However, these approaches require external monitoring devices physically connected to the wiring system, which may interfere with the operation of electronics, thus limiting the possibility to diagnose the health of the wiring system in real-time. This study proposes a new approach to real-time diagnosis of wire degradation through continuous monitoring of digital signals used for data communication in electronics. Accelerated wire abrasion tests were conducted to demonstrate that the proposed method is capable of diagnosing the health of damaged wires. In the test, digital signals are transmitted through a wire subjected to abrasion. The characteristics of transmitted digital signals, such as eye diagram and eye parameters, are observed to gradually deteriorate as the wire is physically damaged. The test results indicate that changes in digital signal characteristics are closely related with the extent of wire damage. Since signal characterization can be performed within electronics where digital signals are continuously generated, the proposed method is effective in diagnosing wire degradation in real-time without external monitoring devices.