Automatic graph-based success tree construction and analysis

This paper presents a graph-based representation of success trees to evaluate the reliability of an embedded system. First, a success tree is constructed by deriving a characteristic function from a graph-based system model automatically. The constructed success tree is then translated to a graph (called a success graph) which supports both cyclic and acyclic data dependencies in applications to be mapped to the system resources and analyzed for reliability. To analyze the success graph, an algorithm called 0-propagation is introduced which propagates errors through the graph. The system fails if the errors propagate to the output of the success graph. Experimental results show that the proposed technique can simply and efficiently construct and analyze success trees of real-life embedded systems in a short time with negligible inaccuracy which suits well for evaluating the reliability of complex systems, e. g., as part of a design space exploration.