Modeling software faults propagation

• Published in: Europhysics letters Vol. 92; no. 6; p. 60009
• Main Authors: Wang, Jian, Liu, Yan-Heng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: IOP Publishing 01.12.2010; EPS, SIF, EDP Sciences and IOP Publishing
• Subjects: 02.50.Ey; 07.05.Tp; 64.60.Ht; Computer programs; Computer simulation; Dynamics; Fault tolerance; Faults; Mathematical models; Networks; Software
• ISSN: 0295-5075; 1286-4854
• DOI: 10.1209/0295-5075/92/60009

We investigate the problem of a widespread occurrence of a software fault in complex software. We propose a topological model in which directional edges and the corresponding weight values are used to represent calling relationships and close degree among functions. By introducing the function fault-tolerant capability and the software fault intensity, we design a software fault propagation model to explore interactions between fault propagation dynamics and software parameters, such as trigger methods, fault intensities, initial fault number, and fault-tolerant capability. The simulations show that real software networks exhibit much stronger fault-tolerant capability than random networks and scale-free networks. We also find out three reasons why some functions are immune against faults: the strong fault-tolerant capability of i) the node itself, ii) the neighbor nodes, and iii) the nodes with zero in-degree.