Online Optimal Release Time for Non-homogeneous Poisson Process Software Reliability Growth Model

A large number of software reliability growth models have been proposed in the literature. Many of these models have also been the subject of optimization problems, including the optimal release problem in which a decision-maker seeks to minimize cost by balancing the cost of testing with field failures. However, the majority of these optimal release formulations are either unused or untested. In many cases, researchers derive expressions and apply them to the complete set of failure data in order to identify the time at which cost was minimized, but this is clearly unusable, since it is not possible to go back in time to make a release decision. The only other implicit strategy implied by these optimal release formulations is to refit a model every time a failure occurs and to assess if the optimal release time has past or if additional testing should be performed.