Fault-Tree Analysis Using a Binary Decision Tree

A new algorithm for the production of a short disjoint-products form of a fault-tree output function is presented and discussed. This algorithm consists of a sequential binary decision process to find first big, then smaller sets of elementary system-failure states which correspond to disjoint-product terms. The identification of bad and good system states can be eased by a simple ternary (3-state) decision for which an auxiliary procedure is presented. The main advantages of this algorithm appear to be its efficiency, simplicity, and usefulness as an alternative (in the sense of multiversion programming for software fault tolerance) for the Shannon decomposition algorithm.