Uneven allocation of elements in linear multi-state sliding window system

An algorithm based on the universal generating function method is suggested for determination of the linear multi-state sliding window system reliability. This algorithm can handle cases in which any number of multi-state elements are allocated in the same position while some positions remain empty. It is shown that such uneven allocation provides greater system reliability than the even one. A genetic algorithm is used as optimization tool in order to solve the optimal element allocation problem.