A New Approach to Reliability Prediction

A new approach determines the reliability function for systems with constant transition rates and with standby and repair, using the stochastic transition signal-flow graph. All the state probabilities of the system need not be found; instead the source-to-sink transmission is calculated. A model in the form of a stochastic transition signal-flow-graph is developed for these systems. Many results reported in the literature can be obtained from the model.