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Effect of Testing Techniques on Software Reliability
Estimates Obtained Using Time-Domain Models?
Mei-Hwa Chen, Aditya P. Mathur, and Vernon J. Rego
Software Engineering Research Center
Department of Computer Sciences
Purdue University
W. Lafayette, In 47907.
December 4, 1992
Abstract
Over the past two decades of research in software reliability, researchers have proposed
several models to estimate reliability of software as testing progresses. Among these models,
the time-domain models, i.e. those which use the notion of ime" between failures or the
number of faults within a certain time duration, are the most common. Almost invariably these
models assume that (a) testing is carried out using an operational profile and (b) functional
testing, also known as black-box testing, is used during the system test phase. The failure data
is obtained during the system test phase and used to estimate various model parameters and
predict reliability. In this paper we present empirical evidence to show that the testing method
used does affect the reliability estimates obtained using one of these models, namely the Musa
execution time model. The evidence presented suggests that reliability models need to take
into account additional data, generated during testing, such as some form of code coverage,
to obtain accurate reliability estimates. It also suggests that further research is necessary to
determine which testing method, or combination thereof, leads to higher reliability. We also
present arguments against the notion that the use of coverage measures for large programs is
not desirable in reliability estimation due to high cost.
?This research was supported in part by NSF award CCR-9102331.