An input-domain based method to estimate software reliability

A method is presented for software reliability estimation that is input-domain based. It was developed to overcome some of the difficulties in using existing reliability models in critical applications. The method classifies the faults that could be in a software program. Then it accounts for the distribution over the input-domain of input values which could activate each fault-type. The method assumes that these distributions change, by reducing their extent, with the number of test cases correctly executed. Using a simple example, the paper suggests a convenient fault classification and a choice of distributions for each fault-type. The introduction of the distributions permit better use of the information collected during the testing phase