Computer Simulation of System Testing Strategies for Fault Elimination

This paper deals with the optimum testing strategy for systems organized into a number of cascaded modules; the strategy gives the minimum s-expected number of tests for eliminating all faulty modules. A single test is carried out by exciting the input of the system and measuring all of the output terminals of one module. Testing continues until all faulty modules are replaced by known good ones. A computer simulation is used to generate an optimal or near-optimal sequence of tests; this depends on the number of modules, their probabilities of success, and the relative position of the modules.