System reliability analysis of an embedded hardware/software system using fault trees

The use of fault trees allows for the unified modeling of embedded hardware/software systems. Fault trees can also produce a sensitivity analysis to provide insight as to which hardware and software components are potentially the most problematic for a given system. From this analysis, the effects that the various hardware and software components have on the overall system reliability can be quantified. Using an example system, it is demonstrated that the various software components contained within a system have a significant impact on the overall system reliability. Hence, software and hardware must be integrated in the reliability analysis of embedded systems to properly represent system behavior and to properly predict the overall system reliability.