Dependable Computer Systems

This monograph presents selected new developments in such areas of dependability research as mathematical models, evaluation of software, probabilistic assessment, methodologies, tools, and technologies. Intelligent and soft computing methods help to resolve fundamental problems of dependability analysis which are caused by the fact that in contemporary computer systems it is often difficult to find a relation between system elements and system events (the relation between reasons and results) and it is even more difficult to define strict mathematical models with “analytical” relationships between such phenomena.