Multistate degradable system modelling and analysis

A failing digital system may be represented by a multistate Markov diagram in which the system functions in a degraded mode of execution before total failure occurs. The models proposed to date do not consider more than one intermittent fault state, which limits the flexibility of modelling, nor do they take repair into consideration. In the letter the authors present a very general continuous-parameter Markov model at the processor level. They also show that this model can be generalised to evaluate the reliability and performability of multi-processor systems. A closed-form solution is also given for the above modelling.