QACDes: QoS-aware context-sensitive design of cyber-physical systems

Area of Science:

• Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS)
• Quality of Service (QoS) Engineering
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• Traditional Quality of Service (QoS) metrics for cyber-physical systems (CPS) are often absolute and fail to account for context-dependent human interactions.
• Evaluating QoS post-development is costly and impractical, especially for systems like critical urban infrastructures where modifications are difficult.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a novel, context-aware definition of QoS for CPS that ensures consistent performance regardless of environmental or user interaction changes.
• To introduce QACDes, a framework for formal validation of CPS QoS constraints during the design phase and after system realization.

Main Methods:

• Defined QoS as a function of contextual factors to ensure system robustness.
• Developed the QACDes framework for formal QoS validation.
• Utilized a lighting control system as a use case to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed QoS definition and validation framework.

Main Results:

• The context-aware QoS definition ensures systems meet performance guarantees despite variations in contextual factors.
• The QACDes framework allows for validation either before the design phase (model comparison) or after system deployment (log analysis).
• Demonstrated effectiveness using a real-world lighting control system.

Conclusions:

• A context-aware QoS definition is crucial for designing robust and adaptable cyber-physical systems.
• The QACDes framework offers a flexible and effective solution for validating CPS QoS at multiple stages, reducing design and development costs.
• This approach is applicable across various CPS domains, including critical infrastructure and built environments.