An Improved Algorithm for Network Reliability

Boolean algebra has been used to find the probability of communication between a pair of nodes in a network by starting with a Boolean product corresponding to simple paths between the pair of nodes and making them disjoint (mutually exclusive). A theorem is given, the use of which enables the disjoint products to be found much faster than by existing methods. An algorithm and results of its implementation on a computer are given. Comparisons with existing methods show the usefulness of the algorithm for large networks.