Reliability evaluation of multi-state weighted k-out-of-n systems

The k-out-of-n systems have been extensively studied in recent years. A binary weighted k-out-of-n model has also been reported in the literature. In this paper, we first compare two approaches for reliability evaluation of binary weighted k-out-of-n systems. We then provide two models of multi-state weighted k-out-of-n system models. Recursive algorithms are presented for reliability evaluation of these new models. The universal generating function approach is also used for reliability evaluation of multi-state weighted k-out-of-n systems. 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.