一个考虑多种排错延迟的NHPP类软件可靠性增长模型

软件可靠性增长模型通常假设软件的测试环境与软件实际运行的现场环境相同,期望利用测试阶段获得的失效数据评估软件在现场运行时的失效行为。多数非齐次泊松过程类软件可靠性增长模型假设软件故障被发现后立即被排除,这点假设无论是在测试环境还是在现场环境下都很难实现。根据故障对测试过程的影响,故障的排错时间可被分为多种。提出了一个考虑多种排错延迟的软件可靠性增长模型,讨论了基于这个模型的故障排除效率函数,指出从用户角度出发讨论软件可靠性时必须考虑重复性故障。     

Considering the fault dependency concept with debugging time lag in software reliability growth modeling using a power function of testing time

Since the early 1970s tremendous growth has been seen in the research of software reliability growth modeling.In general, software reliability growth models (SRGMs) are applicable to the late stages of testing in software development and they can provide useful information about how to improve the reliability of software products.A number of SRGMs have been proposed in the literature to represent time-dependent fault identification/removal phenomenon;still new models are being proposed that could fit a greater number of reliability growth curves.Often,it is assumed that detected faults axe immediately corrected when mathematical models are developed.This assumption may not be realistic in practice because the time to remove a detected fault depends on the complexity of the fault,the skill and experience of the personnel,the size of the debugging team,the technique,and so on.Thus,the detected fault need not be immediately removed,and it may lag the fault detection process by a delay effect factor.In this paper,we first review how different software reliability growth models have been developed,where fault detection process is dependent not only on the number of residual fault content but also on the testing time,and see how these models can be reinterpreted as the delayed fault detection model by using a delay effect factor.Based on the power function of the testing time concept,we propose four new SRGMs that assume the presence of two types of faults in the software:leading and dependent faults.Leading faults are those that can be removed upon a failure being observed.However,dependent faults are masked by leading faults and can only be removed after the corresponding leading fault has been removed with a debugging time lag.These models have been tested on real software error data to show its goodness of fit,predictive validity and applicability.     

一个基于响铃形故障检测率函数的软件可靠性增长模型

非齐次泊松过程类软件可靠性增长模型是评价软件产品可靠性指标的有效工具．影响软件可靠性增长模型评估和预测准确性的最重要的两个因素是软件中隐藏的初始故障数和故障检测率．一些非齐次泊松过程类模型假设故障检测率是不随测试时间变化的常量,有些模型假设故障检测率是增函数或减函数．这些假设或忽略了测试者的学习过程,或忽略了越迟被检测到的故障的概率就可能越低的特点．该文将测试者的学习过程和软件固有故障检测率的变化特征相结合,提出了一个铃形的故障检测率函数,建立了一个非齐次泊松过程类软件可靠性增长模型——Bbell—SRGM．在一组失效数据上的实验分析表明：对这组失效数据,Bbell—SRGM模型比G-O模型等的拟合效果更好．     

软件可靠性增长G-O模型的改进

在传统的软件可靠性增长G-O模型中,故障检测率和初始的故障总数是影响软件可靠性的2个重要因素.为了提高软件可靠性评估的可信性,考虑到在软件纠错的过程中可能会引入新的错误,把模型中潜在的故障总数和故障检测率看作随时间变化的函数,提出了改进的G-O模型,给出了解析方法,并将改进前后的G-O模型进行了对比,通过实例进行了验证...     

具有错误修复的非齐次马尔可夫模型

软件可靠性工程是对软件的质量进行管理和控制的实用性学科,而软件可靠性模型又是软件可靠性工程的基础之一,为了保证靠性模型的估测精度,好的软件可靠性模型应该包括对测试覆盖的说明,并且能够反映的错误修复过程。本文在基于测试覆盖的ＮＨＰＰ模型的基础上,讨论了一有反映软件错误修复过程的非齐次马尔可夫模型。     

一个NHPP类软件可靠性增长模型框架

NHPP类软件可靠性增长模型已经成为软件可靠性工程实践中非常成功的工具,从某些模型的一些共同特征出发,研究了NHPP类软件可靠性增长模型的有限通用框架,提出了一 个既考虑软件测试的不完美性、故障检测率随时间的变化,又考虑了故障改正效率随时间变化的NHPP类软件可靠性增长模型框架。一些已经存在的NHPP类软件可靠性增长模型型是这个框架的特例。     

Computing reliability: On the differences between software testing and software fault injection techniques

System reliability has become a main concern during the computer-based system design process. It is one of the most important characteristics of the system quality. The continuous increase of the system complexity makes the reliability evaluation extremely costly. Therefore, there is need to develop new methods with less cost and effort. Furthermore, the system is vulnerable to both software and hardware faults. While the software faults are usually introduced by the programmer either at the design or the implementation stage of the software, the hardware faults are caused by physical phenomena affecting the hardware components, such as environmental perturbations, manufacturing defects, and aging-related phenomena. The software faults can only impact the software components. However, the hardware faults can propagate through the different system layers, and affect both the hardware and the software. This paper discusses the differences between the software testing and the software fault injections techniques used for reliability evaluation. We describe the mutation analysis as a method mainly used in software testing. Then, we detail the fault injection as a technique to evaluate the system reliability. Finally, we discuss how to use software mutation analysis in order to evaluate, at software level, the system reliability against hardware faults. The main advantage of this technique is its usability at early design stage of the system, when the instruction set architecture is not available. Experimental results run to evaluate faults occurring the memory show that the proposed approach significantly reduces the complexity of the system reliability evaluation in terms of time and cost.     

Gompertz software reliability model: Estimation algorithm and empirical validation

Gompertz curve has been used to estimate the number of residual faults in testing phases of software development, especially by Japanese software development companies. Since the Gompertz curve is a deterministic function, the curve cannot be applied to estimating software reliability which is the probability that software system does not fail in a prefixed time period. In this article, we propose a stochastic model called the Gompertz software reliability model based on non-homogeneous Poisson processes. The proposed model can be derived from the statistical theory of extreme-value, and has a similar asymptotic property to the deterministic Gompertz curve. Also, we develop an EM algorithm to determine the model parameters effectively. In numerical examples with software failure data observed in real software development projects, we evaluate performance of the Gompertz software reliability model in terms of reliability assessment and failure prediction.     

A quasi-renewal process for software reliability and testing costs

This paper models software reliability and testing costs using a new tool: a quasi-renewal process. It is assumed that the cost of fixing a fault during software testing phase, consists of both deterministic and incremental random parts, increases as the number of faults removed increases. Several software reliability and cost models by means of quasi-renewal processes are derived in which successive error-free times are independent and increasing by a fraction. The maximum likelihood estimates of parameters associated with these models are provided. Based on the valuable properties of quasi-renewal processes, the expected software testing and debugging cost, number of remaining faults in the software, and mean error-free time after testing are obtained. A class of related optimization problem is then contemplated and optimum testing policies incorporating both reliability and cost measures are investigated. Finally, numerical examples are presented through a set of real testing data to illustrate the models results     

Predicting operational software availability and its applications to telecommunication systems

It is essential to predict customer-perceived software availability during software development and determine when to release the software to maintain a balance among time-to-market, development cost and software quality. This paper presents methods and procedures to predict software failure rates from a user perspective in system test phases and to reverse-engineer in order to estimate software release time for given availability targets. Software reliability analysis is conducted based on non-homogenous Poisson process models. Software system test data of current release are used to estimate the number of residual faults by the end of system tests and data of previous releases or similar products (including system test data, post-system test data and field failure data) provide a means to predict a user-perceived average failure rate of a fault. Software system availability can be predicted from these estimates. Both execution and calendar times are considered. A software resource utilization model is developed to transfer one testing time to another. A telecommunications application illustrates how to calculate the failure rate and testing time to meet the software availability requirements.     

Design of stochastic fault tolerant control for H2 performance

In this paper, the controller synthesis problem for fault tolerant control systems (FTCS) with stochastic stability and H₂ performance is studied. System faults of random nature are modelled by a Markov chain. Because the real system fault modes are not directly accessible in the context of FTCS, the controller is reconfigured based on the output of a fault detection and identification (FDI) process, which is modelled by another Markov chain. Then state feedback and output feedback control are developed to achieve the mean square stability (MSS) and the H₂ performance for both continuous‐time and discrete‐time systems with model uncertainties. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

NHPP models with Markov switching for software reliability

We describe the use of a latent Markov process governing the parameters of a nonhomogeneous Poisson process (NHPP) model for characterizing the software development defect discovery process. Use of a Markov switching process allows us to characterize non-smooth variations in the rate at which defects are found, better reflecting the industrial software development environment in practice. Additionally, we propose a multivariate model for characterizing changes in the distribution of defect types that are found over time, conditional on the total number of defects. A latent Markov chain governs the evolution of probabilities of the different types. Bayesian methods via Markov chain Monte Carlo facilitate inference. We illustrate the efficacy of the methods using simulated data, then apply them to model reliability growth in a large operating system software component-based on defects discovered during the system testing phase of development.     

Weibull分布引进故障的软件可靠性增长模型

软件调试是复杂过程,可能会受到很多种因素的影响,例如调试资源分配、调试工具的使用情况、调试技巧等.在软件调试过程中,当检测到的故障被去除时,新的故障可能会被引进.因此,研究故障引进的现象对建立高质量的软件可靠性增长模型具有重要意义.但是到目前为止,模拟故障引进过程仍是一个复杂和困难的问题.虽然有许多研究者开发了一些不完美调试的软件可靠性增长模型,但是一般都是假设故障内容（总数）函数为线性、指数分布或者是与故障去除的数量成正比.这个假设与实际的软件调试过程中故障引进情况并不完全一致.提出一种基于Weibull分布引进故障的软件可靠性增长模型,考虑故障内容（总数）函数服从Weibull分布,并用相关的实验验证了提出的模型的拟合和预测性能.在用两个故障数据集进行的模拟实验中,实验结果指出：提出的模型和其他模型相比,有更好的拟合和预测性能以及更好的鲁棒性.     

Reliability growth modeling and optimal release policy under fuzzy environment of an N-version programming system incorporating the effect of fault removal efficiency

Failure of a safety critical system can lead to big losses.Very high software reliability is required for automating the working of systems such as aircraft controller and nuclear reactor controller software systems.Fault-tolerant softwares are used to increase the overall reliability of software systems.Fault tolerance is achieved using the fault-tolerant schemes such as fault recovery (recovery block scheme),fault masking (N-version programming (NVP)) or a combination of both (Hybrid scheme).These softwares incorporate the ability of system survival even on a failure.Many researchers in the field of software engineering have done excellent work to study the reliability of fault-tolerant systems.Most of them consider the stable system reliability.Few attempts have been made in reliability modeling to study the reliability growth for an NVP system.Recently,a model was proposed to analyze the reliability growth of an NVP system incorporating the effect of fault removal efficiency.In this model,a proportion of the number of failures is assumed to be a measure of fault generation while an appropriate measure of fault generation should be the proportion of faults removed.In this paper,we first propose a testing efficiency model incorporating the effect of imperfect fault debugging and error generation.Using this model,a software reliability growth model (SRGM) is developed to model the reliability growth of an NVP system.The proposed model is useful for practical applications and can provide the measures of debugging effectiveness and additional workload or skilled professional required.It is very important for a developer to determine the optimal release time of the software to improve its performance in terms of competition and cost.In this paper,we also formulate the optimal software release time problem for a 3VP system under fuzzy environment and discuss a the fuzzy optimization technique for solving the problem with a numerical illustration.     

tdc.msm: an R library for the analysis of multi-state survival data

The aim of this paper is to present an R library, called tdc.msm, developed to analyze multi-state survival data. In this library, the time-dependent regression model and multi-state models are included as two possible approaches for such data. For the multi-state modelling five different models are considered, allowing the user to choose between Markov and semi-Markov property, as well as to use homogeneous or non-homogeneous models. Specifically, the following multi-state models in continuous time were implemented: Cox Markov model; Cox semi-Markov model; homogeneous Markov model; non-homogeneous piecewise model and non-parametric Markov model. This software can be used to fit multi-state models with one initial state (e.g., illness diagnosis), a finite number of intermediate states, representing, for example, a change of treatment, and one absorbing state corresponding to a terminal event of interest. Graphical output includes survival estimates, transition probabilities estimates and smooth log hazard for continuous covariates.     

Fault detection and diagnosis using statistical control charts and artificial neural networks

In order to operate a successful plant or process, continuous improvement must be made in the areas of safety, quality and reliability. Central to this continuous improvement is the early or proactive detection and correct diagnosis of process faults. This research examines the feasibility of using cumulative summation (CUSUM) control charts and artificial neural networks together for fault detection and diagnosis (FDD). The proposed FDD strategy was tested on a model of the heat transport system of a CANDU nuclear reactor.The results of the investigation indicate that a FDD system using CUSUM control charts and a radial basis function (RBF) neural network is not only feasible but also of promising potential. The control charts and neural network are linked by using a characteristic fault signature pattern for each fault which is to be detected and diagnosed. When tested, the system was able to eliminate all false alarms at steady state, promptly detect six fault conditions, and correctly diagnose five out of the six faults. The diagnosis for the sixth fault was inconclusive.     

基于UML的软件Markov链使用模型的构建

构建软件的使用模型是进行软件可靠性测试及软件可靠性评估的基础.近年来,如何由软件的UML模型构造软件的使用模型成为研究热点.对于大型的软件系统来说,应用现有方法构建的软件Markov链使用模型的状态空间过于庞大,模型描述困难,不利于测试用例的自动生成及软件可靠性评估.针对以上问题,提出了一种由UML模型构建Markov链使用模型的方法.该方法将场景的前置条件和后置条件作为Markov链使用模型的状态,将场景的执行及执行概率作为状态之间的转移及转移概率.与现有方法相比,新方法构建的Markov链使用模型的状态空间小且无需人为干预,而且可以很方便地生成测试输入从而进行可靠性测试.针对UML模型的有效性,提出了经过可靠性评估扩展的UML模型生成Markov链使用模型的验证算法.最后通过一个卫星控制系统的实例对新方法的性能进行了验证.     

Optimal number of hosts in a distributed system based on cost criteria

Redundant or distributed systems are increasingly used in system design so that the required reliability and availability can be easily achieved. However, such an approach requires additional resources that can be very costly. Hence, how to design and test such a system in the most cost-effective way is of concern to the developers. A general cost model and a solution algorithm are presented for the determination of the optimal number of hosts and optimal system debugging time that minimize the total cost while achieving a certain performance objective. During testing, software faults are corrected and the reliability shows an increasing trend, and hence system reliability increases. A general system model is constructed based on a Markov process with software reliability and availability obtained from software reliability growth models. The optimization problem is formulated based on the cost criteria and the solution procedure is described. An application example is presented.     

基于Petri网的软硬件故障建模方法研究

针对计算机系统中软件和硬件相互作用而引发的故障分析问题,提出了基于Petri网的软硬件故障模型,用以表达软件故障和硬件故障相互作用的复杂过程,在此基础上给出了软件、硬件和软硬件故障模式的形式化定义。根据软硬件故障模式的特征,基于故障的传播过程提出了软硬件故障识别算法。实例结果表明模型和算法可以准确的分析和识别软硬件故障,从而为计算机系统的可靠性分析提供了新的途径。