Operational profile specification, test case generation, and reliability estimation for modules
Denise M. Woit · 1994
As our dependence on software grows, the need for reliable software, and the need to be able to quantify this reliability, increases. Not only are models for estimating reliability important, so are the practical issues involved in calculating these estimations. This thesis explores both practical and theoretical problems associated with module reliability estimation. We describe a technique for specifying operational profiles for modules. The technique is more general than those of the current literature and allows more accurate specification of module usage. We also outline our algorithm and software tool for automatically generating random test cases from any such operational profile specification for a module, such that the test cases correspond to a random sampling of the module's input in actual operation. Operational-based statistical estimations, such as operational reliability, may be more meaningful when our specification method and generation algorithm are used, because our ...