A Survey Of Software Dependability

Sarma, VVS (1987) A Survey Of Software Dependability. In: Sadhana : Academy Proceedings in Engineering Sciences, 11 (1-2). pp. 23-48.

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Abstract

This paper presents on overview of the issues in precisely defining, specifying and evaluating the dependability of software, particularly in the context of computer controlled process systems. Dependability is intended to be a generic term embodying various quality factors and is useful for both software and hardware. While the developments in quality assurance and reliability theories have proceeded mostly in independent directions for hardware and software systems, we present here the case for developing a unified framework of dependability—a facet of operational effectiveness of modern technological systems, and develop a hierarchical systems model helpful in clarifying this view. In the second half of the paper, we survey the models and methods available for measuring and improving software reliability. The nature of software “bugs”, the failure history of the software system in the various phases of its lifecycle, the reliability growth in the development phase, estimation of the number of errors remaining in the operational phase, and the complexity of the debugging process have all been considered to varying degrees of detail. We also discuss the notion of software fault-tolerance, methods of achieving the same, and the status of other measures of software dependability such as maintainability, availability and safety.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	Sadhana : Academy Proceedings in Engineering Sciences
Publisher:	Indian Academy of Sciences
Additional Information:	Copyright of this article belongs to Indian Academy of Sciences.
Keywords:	Software dependability;software reliability;software fault;tolerance;computer controlled process systems;software quality assurance.
Department/Centre:	Division of Electrical Sciences > Computer Science & Automation
Date Deposited:	12 Jan 2010 08:48
Last Modified:	22 Oct 2010 09:31
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/20115

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