A review of decision diagrams in system reliability modeling and analysis

Based on Shannon's decomposition theorem, decision diagrams can represent logical functions as directed acyclic graphs in a form that is both compact and canonical. Following the pioneering work of implementing binary decision diagrams for fault tree analysis in 1993, multiple forms of decision diagrams have been developed for the reliability analysis of complex systems in diverse applications such as space exploration, nuclear power, wireless sensor networks, body area networks, unmanned aerial vehicles, cloud computing, social networks, Internet of Things, etc. This article presents a systematic review of decision diagrams, classifying and reflecting on over thirty years of research dedicated to applying this combinatorial model to the reliability analysis of various complex systems and networks. It also discusses potential directions for further advancing decision diagram-based reliability theory and practice.