Assessment of Reliability Allocation Methods for Electronic Systems: A Systematic and Bibliometric Analysis

Reliability allocation is the process of assigning reliability targets to sub-systems within a system to meet the overall reliability requirements. However, many traditional reliability allocation methods rely on assumptions that are often unrealistic, leading to misleading, unachievable, and costly...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Rajkumar B. Patil, San Kyeong, Michael Pecht, Rahul A. Gujar, Sandip Mane
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-01-01
Series:Stats
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2571-905X/8/1/11
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Summary:Reliability allocation is the process of assigning reliability targets to sub-systems within a system to meet the overall reliability requirements. However, many traditional reliability allocation methods rely on assumptions that are often unrealistic, leading to misleading, unachievable, and costly outcomes. This paper provides a historical review of reliability allocation methods, focusing on the Weighing Factor Method (WFM), with a detailed analysis of its main findings, assumptions, and limitations. Additionally, the review covers methods for reliability optimization, redundancy optimization, and multi-state system optimization, highlighting their strengths and shortcomings. A case study is presented to demonstrate how the assumption of an exponential distribution impacts the reliability allocation process, showing the limitations it imposes on practical implementations. Furthermore, a bibliometric analysis is conducted to assess publication trends in the field of reliability allocation. Through examples, particularly in the context of electronic systems using commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components, the challenges are discussed, and recommendations for alternative approaches to improve the reliability allocation process are provided.
ISSN:2571-905X