A reliability and cost analysis of an automatic prototype generator test paradigm

A cost and reliability model which uses an automatic prototype generator (APG) is presented. According to this model, testers can introduce rapidly prototyped automatically generated codes into the testing phase. The model is called the APG test paradigm (APGTP). Two cases are considered: without a budget constraint, and with both a budget constraint and an objective to maximize the outgoing product reliability. Increased reliability can be attained by applying a five-step procedure. It is shown that the capital requirement for an APG exceeds the available installation cost, then installation of the APG should not be considered unless its reliability per dollar invested exceeds that of the traditional model. To demonstrate the procedures, the costs and reliabilities of the two approaches are compared for certain specified parameter values. The use of APGTP generally produces code of better reliability for the same cost as in traditional testing proposed by D.B. Brown and S. Maghsoodloo (1989)