Test suite minimization for testing in context

TLDR

Embedded testing involves testing a component within a complex system while assuming all other components are fault‑free. This paper proposes a method to minimize a test suite for embedded testing. The method minimizes the suite by exploiting the system’s fault‑free context and the component’s communicating, possibly non‑deterministic FSM model, illustrated with a telephone services example on an intelligent network and applicable to other FSM‑based systems. The minimized test suite preserves the fault coverage of the original suite for faults within the embedded component. © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Abstract

Abstract Testing a component embedded into a complex system, in which all other components are assumed fault‐free, is known as embedded testing . This paper proposes a method for minimizing a test suite to perform embedded testing. The minimized test suite maintains the fault coverage of the original test suite with respect to faults within the embedded component. The minimization uses the fact that the system is composed of a fault‐free context and a component under test, specified as communicating, possibly non‐deterministic finite state machines (FSMs). The method is illustrated using an example of telephone services on an intelligent network architecture. Other applications of the proposed approach for testing a system of communicating FSMs are also discussed. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.