Bridgman, M. S. | Engineering Papers

NASA NTRS1984

Automated ultrareliability models - A review

Analytic models are required to assess the reliability of systems designed to ultrareliability requirements. This paper reviews the capabilities and limitations of five currently available automated reliability models which are applicable to fault-tolerant flight control systems. 'System' includes sensors, computers, and actuators. A set of review criteria including validation, configuration adaptability, and resource requirements for model evaluation are described. Five models, ARIES, CARE II, CARE III, CARSRA, and CAST, are assessed against the criteria, thereby characterizing their capabilities and limitations. This review should be helpful to potential users of the models.

Bridgman, M. S.↗

NASA NTRS1981

Comparative analysis of techniques for evaluating the effectiveness of aircraft computing systems

Performability analysis is a technique developed for evaluating the effectiveness of fault-tolerant computing systems in multiphase missions. Performability was evaluated for its accuracy, practical usefulness, and relative cost. The evaluation was performed by applying performability and the fault tree method to a set of sample problems ranging from simple to moderately complex. The problems involved as many as five outcomes, two to five mission phases, permanent faults, and some functional dependencies. Transient faults and software errors were not considered. A different analyst was responsible for each technique. Significantly more time and effort were required to learn performability analysis than the fault tree method. Performability is inherently as accurate as fault tree analysis. For the sample problems, fault trees were more practical and less time consuming to apply, while performability required less ingenuity and was more checkable. Performability offers some advantages for evaluating very complex problems.

Hitt, E. F.↗