Title: A robust optimisation model for a dual-objective software reliability growth model with multiple fault types

Authors: Mohammadreza Namdar; Rassoul Noorossana

Addresses: School of Industrial Engineering, Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran ' School of Industrial Engineering, Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran; Information Systems and Operations Management Department, College of Business, University of Central Oklahoma, Edmond, OK, USA

Abstract: Reliability and development costs are two significant criteria that highly dependent on software release time and test termination time. Simultaneous optimisation of both criteria is a substantial challenge in current projects. Studies in the literature usually suffer from some of the following drawbacks; 1) considering a single objective function (reliability or development costs); 2) not considering the uncertainty of the parameters; 3) considering one type of software fault, whereas multiple fault types with different debugging costs can occur in real condition; 4) ignoring the discounted rate in cost optimisation. This paper presents a dual-objective robust optimisation method for joint optimisation of the development discounted costs and reliability considering the various fault types with different debugging costs to cover the mentioned weaknesses. Eventually, it analyses the model performance through a case study. The findings prove the distinguished role of uncertainty and the interest rate on both objective functions.

Keywords: robust optimisation; software reliability; multiple fault types; dual-objective mathematical model; cost optimisation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJQET.2025.151215

International Journal of Quality Engineering and Technology, 2025 Vol.11 No.1, pp.1 - 25

Received: 28 Oct 2024
Accepted: 21 Feb 2025
Published online: 19 Jan 2026 *

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