An extended operational profile model

Operational profiles are a quantification of usage patterns for a software application. These profiles are used to measure software reliability by testing the software in a manner that represents actual use. The current definition of an operational profile states that it is the set of operations available in the application, and the operations probabilities of occurrence in customer usage scenarios. This definition is too limited. In most industrial applications, focusing on operations alone does not offer adequate representation of the use of software. The limited definition of operational profiles can restrict their applicability and hence software reliability analysis for many software development organizations. This paper describes a formal and practical extension of the current definition of operational profiles to increase their applicability.

[1]  Bev Littlewood,et al.  Choosing a Testing Method to Deliver Reliability , 1997, Proceedings of the (19th) International Conference on Software Engineering.

[2]  Michael Anthony Bauer,et al.  Continuous evolutionary one-step-ahead testing , 2004, SOEN.

[3]  John D. Musa,et al.  Software reliability - measurement, prediction, application , 1987, McGraw-Hill series in software engineering and technology.

[4]  Jeffrey M. Voas,et al.  Certifying Software for High-Assurance Environments , 1999, IEEE Softw..

[5]  Elaine J. Weyuker,et al.  Estimating the CPU utilization of a rule-based system , 2004, WOSP '04.

[6]  Alberto Avritzer,et al.  Load testing software using deterministic state testing , 1993, ISSTA '93.

[7]  Denise M. Woit.  Operational profile specification, test case generation, and reliability estimation for modules , 1994 .

[8]  John E. Freund,et al.  Probability and statistics for engineers , 1965 .

[9]  Denise M. Woit.  Specifying operational profiles for modules , 1993, ISSTA '93.

[10]  Elaine J. Weyuker,et al.  Experience with Performance Testing of Software Systems: Issues, an Approach, and Case Study , 2000, IEEE Trans. Software Eng..

[11]  Richard L. Scheaffer,et al.  Probability and statistics for engineers , 1986 .

[12]  John D. Musa,et al.  Software Reliability Engineering , 1998 .

[13]  Silvana Castano,et al.  Semantic dictionary design for database interoperability , 1997, Proceedings 13th International Conference on Data Engineering.

[14]  Yong Woo Kim,et al.  An empirical evaluation of system and regression testing , 2002, CASCON.

[15]  D. Woit.  Specifying Operational Prooles for Modules , 1993 .

[16]  John D. Musa,et al.  Software Reliability Engineering: More Reliable Software Faster and Cheaper , 2004 .

[17]  John D. Musa,et al.  Operational profiles in software-reliability engineering , 1993, IEEE Software.

[18]  Jeffrey M. Voas,et al.  Toward a More Reliable Theory of Software Reliability , 2000, Computer.

[19]  W. Gilchrist,et al.  Statistical Modelling with Quantile Functions , 2000 .

[20]  Standard Glossary of Software Engineering Terminology , 1990 .

[21]  Sleyman zekici,et al.  Testing of software with an operational profile , 2000 .

[22]  Edward Kit,et al.  Software testing in the real world - improving the process , 1995 .

[23]  Hanan Lutfiyya,et al.  The extended operational profile model for usage-based software testing , 2004 .

[24]  Jeffrey Voas,et al.  Will the Real Operational Profile Please Stand Up , 2000 .