System Signatures and their Applications in Engineering Reliability (International Series in Operations Research & Management Science, 110)

Since the introduction of system signatures in Francisco Samaniego's 1985 paper, the properties of this technical concept have been examined, tested and proven in a wide variety of systems applications. Based on the practical and research success in building reliability into systems with system signatures, this is the first book treatment of the approach. It is, therefore, the purpose of this book to provide guidance on how reliability problems might be structured, modeled and solved. Over the past ten years the broad applicability of system signatures has become apparent and the tool's utility in coherent systems and communications networks firmly established. The book compared actual system lifetimes where the tool has been and has not been used. These comparisons - which have been done over the years - demonstrate the practical, feasible and fruitful use of the tool in building reliable systems. Finally, new results and future directions for system signatures are also explored.

In building reliability into a system, engineers must address a number of practical needs that will enable them to quantify and compare reliability in engineered systems. (1) One is to be able to compare the reliability of one system to another system. (2) Another practical need is to compare alternate system designs for the purpose of engineering a particular optimal system. The practical, standardized, technical tool for characterizing reliability in systems is system signatures which was created in 1985 and since has developed into a powerful tool for qualifying reliability. It is used in all physical structures and stochastic systems where reliability is an important consideration (e.g., automobiles, bridges, electronic networks, airplanes, etc.)

Since the introduction of system signatures in Francisco Samaniego’s 1985 paper, the properties of this technical concept have been examined, tested and proven in a wide variety of systems applications. Based on the practical and research success in building reliability into systems with system signatures, this is the first book treatment of the approach. It is, therefore, the purpose of this book to provide guidance on how reliability problems might be structured, modeled and solved. Over the past ten years the broad applicability of system signatures has become apparent and the tool’s utility in coherent systems and communications networks firmly established. The book compared actual system lifetimes where the tool has been and has not been used. These comparisons—which have been done over the years—demonstrate the practical, feasible and fruitful use of the tool in building reliable systems. Finally, new results and future directions for system signatures are also explored.

In building reliability into a system, engineers must address a number of practical needs that will enable them to quantify and compare reliability in engineered systems. (1) One is to be able to compare the reliability of one system to another system. (2) Another practical need is to compare alternate system designs for the purpose of engineering a particular optimal system. The practical, standardized, technical tool for characterizing reliability in systems is system signatures which was created in 1985 and since has developed into a powerful tool for qualifying reliability. It is used in all physical structures and stochastic systems where reliability is an important consideration (e.g., automobiles, bridges, electronic networks, airplanes, etc.) Since the introduction of system signatures in Francisco Samaniego's 1985 paper, the properties of this technical concept have been examined, tested and proven in a wide variety of systems applications. Based on the practical and research success in building reliability into systems with system signatures, this is the first book treatment of the approach. It is, therefore, the purpose of this book to provide guidance on how reliability problems might be structured, modeled and solved. Over the past ten years the broad applicability of system signatures has become apparent and the tool's utility in coherent systems and communications networks firmly established. The book compared actual system lifetimes where the tool has been and has not been used. These comparisons-which have been done over the years-demonstrate the practical, feasible and fruitful use of the tool in building reliable systems. Finally, new results and future directions for system signatures are also explored Contents......Page 11 1. Introduction......Page 13 2.1 Basic Ideas......Page 18 2.2 The Reliability of a Coherent System......Page 28 3. System Signatures......Page 31 4.1 An Application to the IFR Closure Problem......Page 47 4.2 Preservation Theorems Based on Signature Properties......Page 53 4.3 An Application to Redundancy Comparisons......Page 58 4.4 Signature-Based Characterizations of Relative System Performance......Page 63 5.1 An Application to Direct and Indirect Majority Systems......Page 69 5.2 An Application to Consecutive k-out-of-n Systems......Page 72 5.3 The Limiting Behavior of System Failure Rates and Survival Curves......Page 75 5.4 Comparing Arbitrary Mixed Systems via Stochastic Precedence......Page 78 6.1 An Introduction to Communication Networks......Page 85 6.2 A Brief Look at Domination Theory......Page 91 6.3 The Linkage Between Dominations and Signatures......Page 93 7.1 Prototypical Problems in Reliability Economics......Page 100 7.2 Optimality Criteria......Page 103 7.3 Characterizing Optimal Systems......Page 107 7.4 Estimating the Relevant Characteristics of the Component Distribution......Page 115 7.5 Approximately Optimal System Designs......Page 123 7.6 Discussion......Page 125 8.1 Introduction......Page 128 8.2 A Retrospective Overview......Page 129 8.3 Desiderata......Page 133 8.4 Some Additional Related Literature......Page 137 8.5.2 Other Preservation Results......Page 140 8.5.4 Further Results on Stochastic Precedence......Page 141 8.5.5 Uniformly Optimal Networks......Page 142 8.5.6 Other Problems in Reliability Economics......Page 144 8.5.7 Wholly New Stuff......Page 146 References......Page 147 C......Page 153 K......Page 154 P......Page 155 S......Page 156 Z......Page 157