Mission reliability of semi-Markov systems under generalized operational time requirements

Abstract

Mission reliability of a system depends on specific criteria for mission success. To evaluate the mission reliability of some mission systems that do not need to work normally for the whole mission time, two types of mission reliability for such systems are studied. The first type corresponds to the mission requirement that the system must remain operational continuously for a minimum time within the given mission time interval, while the second corresponds to the mission requirement that the total operational time of the system within the mission time window must be greater than a given value. Based on Markov renewal properties, matrix integral equations are derived for semi-Markov systems. Numerical algorithms and a simulation procedure are provided for both types of mission reliability. Two examples are used for illustration purposes. One is a one-unit repairable Markov system, and the other is a cold standby semi-Markov system consisting of two components. By the proposed approaches, the mission reliability of systems with time redundancy can be more precisely estimated to avoid possible unnecessary redundancy of system resources.