SIPS 2011
A cyber-physical system (CPS) is a system with a tight combination of, and coordination between, the systems computational and physical elements. Today, cyber-physical systems can be found in areas as diverse as aerospace, automotive, chemical processes, smart civil infrastructure, energy, healthcare, manufacturing, transportation, entertainment, and consumer appliances. Unlike conventional cyber systems, in CPS the emphasis tends to be more on the intense link between the computational and physical elements rather than computational elements alone. A CPS is typically designed as a network of interacting elements with physical input and output instead of as standalone devices.
The linkage between computational and physical elements will dramatically increase the adaptability, autonomy, efficiency, functionality, reliability, safety, and usability of cyber-physical systems. The advances will broaden the potential of cyber-physical systems in several industrial application areas.
Though cyber physical systems occur in many disciplines, they share similar characteristics. First, their dynamics are non-linear, contain deterministic and stochastic terms, and have spatial and temporal characteristics with interdependencies. Second, though such a system may consist of numerous components, the aggregate effect of the components is not just the sum of parts, but the accomplishment of a larger goal. Finally, such systems may not be deployable with a clean-slate design, i.e., they need to co-exist with and co-opt existing infrastructure. Consequently, novel mathematical models, analysis tools, and engineering solutions are necessary to represent, understand, and deploy such systems.
The goal of this workshop is to bring together researchers in systems engineering, control theory, computer/communication networking, security and privacy, decision support systems, and smart infrastructure engineering on a common platform to address the challenges and future directions of CPS.