A hierarchical combinatorial reliability model for smart home systems

• Published in: Quality and reliability engineering international Vol. 34; no. 1; pp. 37 - 52
• Main Authors: Zhao, Guilin, Xing, Liudong, Zhang, Qun, Jia, Xujie
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bognor Regis Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.02.2018
• Subjects: Combinatorial analysis; Component reliability; Energy transmission; Mean time to failure; multi‐valued decision diagram; probabilistic competing failure; Propagation; random propagation time; Reliability analysis; reliability modeling; smart home; Statistical analysis; System reliability
• ISSN: 0748-8017; 1099-1638
• DOI: 10.1002/qre.2234

As an application of the Internet of Things, smart home systems have received significant attentions in recent years due to their precedent advantages, eg, in ensuring efficient electricity transmission and integration with renewable energy. This paper proposes a hierarchical and combinatorial methodology for modeling and evaluating reliability of a smart home system. Particularly, the proposed methodology encompasses a multi‐valued decision diagram‐based method for addressing phased‐mission, standby sparing, and functional dependence behaviors in the physical layer; and a combinatorial procedure based on the total probability theorem for addressing probabilistic competing failure behavior with random propagation time in the communication layer. The methods are applicable to arbitrary types of time‐to‐failure and time‐to‐propagation distributions for system components. A detailed case study of an example smart home system is performed to demonstrate applications of the proposed method and effects of different component parameters on the system reliability.