Reliability of multi-state systems with common bus performance sharing

Abstract

This article extends an existing model for performance sharing among the multi-state units. The extended model considers an arbitrary number of units that must satisfy individual random demands. If a unit has a performance that exceeds the demand it can transmit the surplus performance to other units. The amount of transmitted performance is limited by the random capacity of a transmission system. The entire system fails if at least one demand is not satisfied. An algorithm based on the universal generating function technique is suggested to evaluate the system reliability and expected performance deficiency. Analytical and numerical examples are presented.