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On the use of testability measures for dependability assessment
Program ātestabilityā is informally, the probability that a program will fail under test if it contains at least one fault. When a dependability assessment has to be derived from the observation of a series of failure free test executions (a common need for software subject to āultra high reliabilityā requirements), measures of testability can-in theory-be used to draw inferences on program correctness. We rigorously investigate the concept of testability and its use in dependability assessment, criticizing, and improving on, previously published results. We give a general descriptive model of program execution and testing, on which the different measures of interest can be defined. We propose a more precise definition of program testability than that given by other authors, and discuss how to increase testing effectiveness without impairing program reliability in operation. We then study the mathematics of using testability to estimate, from test results: the probability of program correctness and the probability of failures. To derive the probability of program correctness, we use a Bayesian inference procedure and argue that this is more useful than deriving a classical āconfidence levelā. We also show that a high testability is not an unconditionally desirable property for a program. In particular, for programs complex enough that they are unlikely to be completely fault free, increasing testability may produce a program which will be less trustworthy, even after successful testin
Neutrino mass patterns, R-parity violating supersymmetry and associated phenomenology
Motivated by the recent SuperKamiokande results on atmospheric neutrinos, we
incorporate massive neutrinos, with large angle oscillation between the second
and third generations, in a theory with R-parity violating supersymmetry. The
general features of such a theory are briefly reviewed. We emphasize its
testability through the observation of comparable numbers of muons and taus,
produced together with the W-boson, in decays of the lightest neutralino. A
distinctly measurable decay gap is another remarkable feature of such a
scenario.Comment: 7 pages, latex, talk delivered at the Discussion Meeting on Neutrino
Physics, Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad, India, February 2-4, 199
The Logic of Experimental Tests, Particularly of Everettian Quantum Theory
Claims that the standard methodology of scientific testing is inapplicable to
Everettian quantum theory, and hence that the theory is untestable, are due to
misconceptions about probability and about the logic of experimental testing.
Refuting those claims by correcting those misconceptions leads to various
simplifications, notably the elimination of everything probabilistic from
fundamental physics (stochastic processes) and from the methodology of testing
('Bayesian' credences)
On a Contrastive Criterion of Testability II: The Material Inadequacy of Contrastive Testability
Elliott Sober has suggested his contrastive criterion of testability as an improvement over previous criteria of empirical signiļ¬cance like falsiļ¬ability and the standard Bayesian criterion of empirical signiļ¬cance. I argue that the criterion fails to meet four of the conditions of adequacy for a criterion of empirical signiļ¬cance that follow from Soberās position or are presumed in his arguments. I suggest to deļ¬ne empirical signiļ¬cance as empirical non-equivalence to a tautology, because this deļ¬nition does meet the conditions of adequacy. Speciļ¬cally, it is equivalent to the standard Bayesian criterion of empirical signiļ¬cance whenever all probabilities are deļ¬ned and contains falsiļ¬ability as a special case. This latter feature is important because those conditions of adequacy that apply to criteria of deductive empirical signiļ¬cance single out falsiļ¬ability
Property Testing via Set-Theoretic Operations
Given two testable properties and , under
what conditions are the union, intersection or set-difference of these two
properties also testable? We initiate a systematic study of these basic
set-theoretic operations in the context of property testing. As an application,
we give a conceptually different proof that linearity is testable, albeit with
much worse query complexity. Furthermore, for the problem of testing
disjunction of linear functions, which was previously known to be one-sided
testable with a super-polynomial query complexity, we give an improved analysis
and show it has query complexity O(1/\eps^2), where \eps is the distance
parameter.Comment: Appears in ICS 201
LOT: Logic Optimization with Testability - new transformations for logic synthesis
A new approach to optimize multilevel logic circuits is introduced. Given a multilevel circuit, the synthesis method optimizes its area while simultaneously enhancing its random pattern testability. The method is based on structural transformations at the gate level. New transformations involving EX-OR gates as well as ReedāMuller expansions have been introduced in the synthesis of multilevel circuits. This method is augmented with transformations that specifically enhance random-pattern testability while reducing the area. Testability enhancement is an integral part of our synthesis methodology. Experimental results show that the proposed methodology not only can achieve lower area than other similar tools, but that it achieves better testability compared to available testability enhancement tools such as tstfx. Specifically for ISCAS-85 benchmark circuits, it was observed that EX-OR gate-based transformations successfully contributed toward generating smaller circuits compared to other state-of-the-art logic optimization tools
A Testability Analysis Framework for Non-Functional Properties
This paper presents background, the basic steps and an example for a
testability analysis framework for non-functional properties
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