A Polynomial Algorithm for Computing the Optimal Repair Strategy in a
  System with Independent Component Failures
  The goal of diagnosis is to compute good repair strategies in response to
anomalous system behavior. In a decision theoretic framework, a good repair
strategy has low expected cost. In a general formulation of the problem, the
computation of the optimal (lowest expected cost) repair strategy for a system
with multiple faults is intractable. In this paper, we consider an interesting
and natural restriction on the behavior of the system being diagnosed: (a) the
system exhibits faulty behavior if and only if one or more components is
malfunctioning. (b) The failures of the system components are independent.
Given this restriction on system behavior, we develop a polynomial time
algorithm for computing the optimal repair strategy. We then go on to introduce
a system hierarchy and the notion of inspecting (testing) components before
repair. We develop a linear time algorithm for computing an optimal repair
strategy for the hierarchical system which includes both repair and inspection.
