An efficient algorithm for computing the signatures of systems with exchangeable components and applications

Abstract

ABSTRACTComputing the system signature is an attractive but challenging problem in system reliability. In this article, we propose a novel algorithm to compute the signature of a system with exchangeable components. This new algorithm relies only on the information of minimal cut sets or minimal path sets, which is very intuitive and efficient. The new results in this article are used to address the problem of the aging property of the system signature in the literature. We further discuss the bounds for the system signature when only partial information is available. The application of these new results to cyberattacks is also highlighted.