A general formulation of optimal testing-time allocation for modular systems

Software testing is very costly in software development and the testing-time during the module testing phase is limited. Thus, the problem of optimal testing-time allocation is of great importance in practice. In this paper, a general formulation of optimal testing-time allocation for modular systems is proposed. The objective is to maximize the reliability of the entire software system. In our formulation, both architecture-based models and non-homogeneous Poisson process (NHPP) models are used. The assumptions are also highlighted to help practitioners better under the limitations that need attention. A numerical example is provided and sensitivity analysis is conducted to detect significant parameters.