2. The Universal Generating Function in Reliability Analysis of Binary Systems

While the most effective applications of the UGF method lie in the field of the MSS reliability, it can also be used for evaluating the reliability of binary systems. The theory of binary systems is well developed. Many algorithms exist for evaluating the reliability of different types of binary system. However, no universal systematic approach has been suggested for the wide range of system types. This chapter demonstrates the ability of the UGF approach to handle the reliability assessment problem for different types of binary system. Since very effective specialized algorithms were developed for each type of system, the UGF-based procedures may not appear to be very effective in comparison with the best known algorithms (these algorithms can be found in the comprehensive book of Kuo and Zuo [12]). The aim of this chapter is to demonstrate how the UGF technique can be adapted for solving a variety of reliability evaluation problems.