Status estimation is determined for an entity having a plurality of
components. An original disjunction of diagnostic expressions indicating
at least one of a fault-free or at least one fault mode for at least one
of the components is determined, which is then investigated against a set
of diagnostic test results, and expressions that do not imply the test
result are discarded. Further, for each statement in the test result, a
joint diagnostic expression is generated representing a conjunction of
the statement and the currently investigated diagnostic expression. Joint
diagnostic expressions that imply one of the original diagnosis
expressions are discarded. Otherwise, they are added to an updated
disjunction of diagnostic expressions. All remaining diagnostic
expressions in the temporary disjunction of diagnostic expressions are
then added to the updated disjunction of diagnostic expressions, and a
status report is produced.