SREPT: software reliability estimation and prediction tool

Several tools have been developed for the estimation of software reliabilit y. However, they are highly specialized in the approaches they implement an d the particular phase of the software life-cycle in which they are applica ble. There is an increasing need for a tool that can be used to track the q uality of a software product during the software life-cycle, right from the architectural phase all the way up to the operational phase of the softwar e. Also the conventional techniques for software reliability evaluation, wh ich treat the software as a monolithic entity, are inadequate to assess the reliability of heterogeneous systems, which consist of a large number of g lobally distributed components. Architecture-based approaches are essential to assess the reliability and performance of such systems. This paper pres ents the high-level design of a software reliability estimation and predict ion tool (SREPT), that offers a unified framework consisting of techniques (including the architecture-based approach) to assist in the evaluation of software reliability during all phases of the software life-cycle. (C)2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.