Abstract: The functional reliability simulation technique (FRST) is a new reliability analysis method. It is able to analyze and deal with the physical failure and soft failure of the system, and conducts analysis according to the logic thought of traditional speciality, which helps to decrease the adverse effect due to lack of reliability data. This paper discusses the background of requirements of FRST, summarizes the FRST's current status and the characteristics of its various research directions, studies and analyzes some of the FRST's major critical techniques, such as function decomposition, single model construction, functional criterion establishment and simulation analysis. A new modeling method FraNets about FRST for performance and reliability comprehensive analysis is proposed, FraNets's composition element and feature are presented, and the ability of its performing the analysis of system performance and reliability is demonstrated with a practical example.

Key words: funct ional reliability simulat ion, reliability analysis, simulat ion, Pet riN ets