An improved algorithm for solving all <Emphasis Type="Italic">d</Emphasis>-MPs in multi-state networks

Reliability is a desirable performance indicator of many real-world systems to measure the quality level. One general method for evaluating multi-state reliability is using d-minimal paths (d-MPs). However, being an NP-hard problem, searching for all d-MPs is a rather challenging task. This paper proposes an improved algorithm to solve the d-MP problem. To reduce the search space of d-MPs, a concept of lower capacity bound is introduced into the d-MP problem, and an effective technique is developed to find lower capacity bounds. Meanwhile, the fast enumeration method which is a recent improvement to the traditional enumeration method is employed to solve d-MPs. In addition, by introducing the operation of transforming undirected edges into directed edges, the proposed algorithm is applicable to solving both directed networks and undirected networks. Through numerical experiments, it is found that the proposed algorithm holds a distinct advantage over the existing methods in solving all d-MPs.