Reliability analysis of Multi-State Systems based on tools of multiple-valued logic

Multi-State Systems (MSSs) are one of the basic mathematical models that are used in reliability analysis of complex systems. Analysis of such systems is a challenging task. It involves several steps from which one of the most important is investigation of influence of system components on system proper work. This investigation can be qualitative or quantitative. The qualitative analysis focuses on identification of conditions in which component degradation results in system deterioration. The quantitative analysis estimates probabilities of occurrences of such situations. In this paper, we propose a method for qualitative and quantitative analysis of topological properties of MSSs. The method is based on logical differential calculus and is implemented using multi-valued decision diagrams.