Reliability Evaluation of Multi-State Quick Path Flow Networks

Abstract

Network reliability refers to the probability that a live connection exists between a source node and a sink node. Network structures are applied extensively in many real-world systems, such as computers, power transmission, and distribution systems. Therefore, reliability evaluation of a general network is very important. Network reliability can be adopted as an index of network quality to indicate the probability of successful on-time delivery. To estimate an adequate index for network quality, we search for all feasible combinations instead of a pre-defined minimal path (MP) set which appeared on literature. This study considers the quick path problem within the multi-state flow network (MQPFN). It tries to locate all feasible solutions and evaluate the probability that d units of commodities can be sent from the source node to the sink node through MQPFN within T units of time. Commodities may be transmitted via single or multiple MPs, and solutions are not subject to disjointed MPs. This study contributed to develop a new algorithm which not only finds for all quick path (QPs) to transmit commodities on time via a network, but also accurately evaluates the probability of successful delivery as an index of network quality.