Software reliability estimation for modular software systems and its applications

In this paper, an analytical model for estimating the reliability of a module-based software system is proposed. The model assumes that the software modules are heterogeneous and the transfers of control between modules follow a discrete time Markov process. Moreover, the failure process of an individual module is assumed to be a non-homogeneous Poisson process (NHPP), and the time-dependent behavior of corresponding testing effort is modeled by a logistic distribution. The author also demonstrates how this analytical approach can be employed to measure the reliability of a software system including multiple-input/multiple-output systems and heterogeneous software systems.