Towards Independent In-Cloud Evolution of Cyber-Physical Systems

The capabilities of Cyber-Physical Systems (CPSs) are increasingly being extended towards new composite services deployed across a range of smart sensing and controlling devices. These services enable the emergence of multiple end-to-end cyber-physical scenarios, formed dynamically based on their demands, e.g., disaster recovery systems. In such scenarios, each cyber-physical flow may be composed of a large number of physical services with composition challenges such as high dynamism of CPS platforms, rapid development and scalability, and real-time and reliable processing and controlling tasks. Cloud computing enables new perspectives in the design and operation of CPSs, including consolidating and sharing physical services among different applications, auto-scaling computing and communication, and designing and maintaining multiple in-Cloud CPSs dynamically at the same time. In this paper, we present a new architectural approach to address the key concerns of a new generation of CPS services whose functionalities reside in-Cloud (cyber), and on devices and systems (physical). In particular, this design space is focused on principles that allow in-Cloud evolution of CPS services, including dynamic in-Cloud service composition and distribution, virtualization of physical services and devices, and the dynamic creation of CPS ecosystems. In this design model, the in-Cloud cyber part may evolve independently, while the on-device cyber and physical platform still work closely together and provide the basic CPS services.