Warranty Cost Analysis of Software Reliability Growth Model (SRGM) with Imperfect Debugging and Change-point*

Abstract

In this paper, the optimal release policy for constructing the software reliability growth model (SRGM) that incorporates both imperfect debugging and change-point concepts has been investigated. In any realistic situations the change-point problem may be realized due to change in many factors like testing strategies, environment, resource allocation, etc.. It is important to ensure when to stop testing or when to release the software so that the total system development cost can be minimized subject to reliability constraint. To evaluate the total expected cost, a warranty cost model using non-homogeneous process along with change-point phenomenon is discussed. Optimal release policies based on cost and reliability criteria are constructed for determining fairly accurate optimal software release time. The phenomenon and applicability of the proposed model are established via numerical results.