Multiple security domain nondeducibility in cyber-physical systems

Cyber-physical Systems (CPS) present special problems for security. This dissertation examines the cyber security problem, the physical security problem, the security problems presented when cyber systems and physical systems are intertwined, and problems presented by the fact that CPS leak information simply by being observed. The issues presented by applying traditional cyber security to CPS are explored and some of the shortcomings of these models are noted. Specific models of a drive-by-wire\u27\u27 automobile connected to a road side assistance network, a Stuxnet type\u27\u27 attack, the smart grid, and others are presented in detail. The lack of good tools for CPS security is addressed in part by the introduction of a new model, Multiple Security Domains Nondeducibility over an Event System, or MSDND(ES). The drive-by-wire automobile is studied to show how MSDND(ES) is applied to a system that traditional security models do not describe well. The issue of human trust in inherently vulnerable CPS with embedded cyber monitors, is also explored. A Stuxnet type attack on a CPS is examined using both MSDND(ES) and Belief, Information acquisition, and Trust (BIT) logic to provide a clear and precise method to discuss issues of trust and belief in monitors and electronic reports. To show these techniques, the electrical smart grid as envisioned by the Future Renewable Electric Energy Delivery and Management Systems Center (FREEDM) project is also modeled. Areas that may lead to the development of additional tools are presented as possible future work to address the fact: CPS are different and require different models and tools to understand. --Abstract, page iii

Spring 2019

Lab Life: New and improved School of Computing labs inspire research in robotics and engineering; A Festival to Remember: Students thrive in film festival environments; Next Gen Data Scientists: Data Science Academy introduces high school students to the big world of data; A Well-Designed Design Colloquium; Game Face: Sausage Sports Club: creator and CDM alumnus Chris Wade shares the story behind his playful Nintendo Switch game: Connected from Afar: Graduate student Sierra Sellman makes the most of her online degree program; Seen and Heard; Bravo! Bravo

Verification of information flow security in cyber-physical systems

With a growing number of real-world applications that are dependent on computation, securing the information space has become a challenge. The security of information in such applications is often jeopardized by software and hardware failures, intervention of human subjects such as attackers, incorrect design specification and implementation, other social and natural causes. Since these applications are very diverse, often cutting across disciplines a generic approach to detect and mitigate these issues is missing. This dissertation addresses the fundamental problem of verifying information security in a class of real world applications of computation, the Cyber-physical systems (CPSs). One of the motivations for this work is the lack of a unified theory to specify and verify the complex interactions among various cyber and physical processes within a CPS. Security of a system is fundamentally characterized by the way information flows within the system. Information flow within a CPS is dependent on the physical response of the system and associated cyber control. While formal techniques of verifying cyber security exist, they are not directly applicable to CPSs due to their inherent complexity and diversity. This Ph.D. research primarily focuses on developing a uniform framework using formal tools of process algebras to verify security properties in CPSs. The merits in adopting such an approach for CPS analyses are three fold- i) the physical and continuous aspects and the complex CPS interactions can be modeled in a unified way, and ii) the problem of verifying security properties can be reduced to the problem of establishing suitable equivalences among the processes, and iii) adversarial behavior and security properties can be developed using the features like compositionality and process equivalence offered by the process algebras --Abstract, page iii

Evolvable Smartphone-Based Point-of-Care Systems For In-Vitro Diagnostics

Recent developments in the life-science -omics disciplines, together with advances in micro and nanoscale technologies offer unprecedented opportunities to tackle some of the major healthcare challenges of our time. Lab-on-Chip technologies coupled with smart-devices in particular, constitute key enablers for the decentralization of many in-vitro medical diagnostics applications to the point-of-care, supporting the advent of a preventive and personalized medicine. Although the technical feasibility and the potential of Lab-on-Chip/smart-device systems is repeatedly demonstrated, direct-to-consumer applications remain scarce. This thesis addresses this limitation. System evolvability is a key enabler to the adoption and long-lasting success of next generation point-of-care systems by favoring the integration of new technologies, streamlining the reengineering efforts for system upgrades and limiting the risk of premature system obsolescence. Among possible implementation strategies, platform-based design stands as a particularly suitable entry point. One necessary condition, is for change-absorbing and change-enabling mechanisms to be incorporated in the platform architecture at initial design-time. Important considerations arise as to where in Lab-on-Chip/smart-device platforms can these mechanisms be integrated, and how to implement them. Our investigation revolves around the silicon-nanowire biological field effect transistor, a promising biosensing technology for the detection of biological analytes at ultra low concentrations. We discuss extensively the sensitivity and instrumentation requirements set by the technology before we present the design and implementation of an evolvable smartphone-based platform capable of interfacing lab-on-chips embedding such sensors. We elaborate on the implementation of various architectural patterns throughout the platform and present how these facilitated the evolution of the system towards one accommodating for electrochemical sensing. Model-based development was undertaken throughout the engineering process. A formal SysML system model fed our evolvability assessment process. We introduce, in particular, a model-based methodology enabling the evaluation of modular scalability: the ability of a system to scale the current value of one of its specification by successively reengineering targeted system modules. The research work presented in this thesis provides a roadmap for the development of evolvable point-of-care systems, including those targeting direct-to-consumer applications. It extends from the early identification of anticipated change, to the assessment of the ability of a system to accommodate for these changes. Our research should thus interest industrials eager not only to disrupt, but also to last in a shifting socio-technical paradigm

Annual Report 2019-2020

LETTER FROM THE DEAN As I write this letter wrapping up the 2019-20 academic year, we remain in a global pandemic that has profoundly altered our lives. While many things have changed, some stayed the same: our CDM community worked hard, showed up for one another, and continued to advance their respective fields. A year that began like many others changed swiftly on March 11th when the University announced that spring classes would run remotely. By March 28th, the first day of spring quarter, we had moved 500 CDM courses online thanks to the diligent work of our faculty, staff, and instructional designers. But CDM’s work went beyond the (virtual) classroom. We mobilized our makerspaces to assist in the production of personal protective equipment for Illinois healthcare workers, participated in COVID-19 research initiatives, and were inspired by the innovative ways our student groups learned to network. You can read more about our response to the COVID-19 pandemic on pgs. 17-19. Throughout the year, our students were nationally recognized for their skills and creative work while our faculty were published dozens of times and screened their films at prestigious film festivals. We added a new undergraduate Industrial Design program, opened a second makerspace on the Lincoln Park Campus, and created new opportunities for Chicago youth. I am pleased to share with you the College of Computing and Digital Media’s (CDM) 2019-20 annual report, highlighting our collective accomplishments. David MillerDeanhttps://via.library.depaul.edu/cdmannual/1003/thumbnail.jp

Virtual Prototyping Methodology for Power Automation Cyber-Physical-Systems

In this thesis, the author proposes a circular system development model which considers all the stages in a typical development process for industrial systems. In particular, the present work shows that the use of virtual prototyping at early stages of the system development may reduce the overall design and verification effort by allowing the exploration of the complete system architecture, and uncovering integration issues early on. The modeling techniques of this research are based on VHDL-AMS, yet supporting other modeling languages such as C/C++, SPICE, and Verilog-AMS, together with integrated simulation tools. Contrasting with conventional approaches, it is shown that the proposed methodology is adapted for small-scale Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) design and verification thanks to the modularity and scalability of the modeling approach. The proposed modeling techniques enable seamlessly the CPS design together with the implementation of their subsystems. In particular, the contribution of this work improves the virtual prototyping approach that has been successfully used during the development of smart electrical sensors and monitoring equipment for high and medium voltage applications. The design of the measurement and self-calibration circuits of a medium voltage current sensor based on the Rogowski coil transducer is presented as an example. The proposed small-scale CPS design methodology based on virtual prototyping, namely VP-based design methodology, uses important theoretical concepts from layered design, component-based design, and platform-based design. These foundations are the basis to build a modeling methodology that provides a vehicle that can be used to improve system verification towards correct-by-design systems. The main contributions of this research are: the re-definition of the system development lifecycle by using a virtual prototyping methodology; the design and implementation of a model library that maximizes the reuse of computational models and their related IP; and a set of VHDL-AMS modeling guidelines established with the purpose of improving the modularity and scalability of virtual prototypes. These elements are key for supporting the introduction of virtual prototyping into industrial companies that can thoroughly profit from this approach, but cannot commit a specific team to the creation, support, and maintenance of computational models and its dedicated infrastructure. Thanks to the progressive nature of the proposed methodology, virtual prototypes can indeed be introduced with relatively low initial effort and enhanced over time. The presented methodology and its infrastructure may grow into a bidirectional communication medium between non-expert system designers (i.e. system architects and virtual integrators) and domain specialists such as mechanical designers, power electrical designers, embedded-electronics designers, and software designers. The proposed design methodology advocates the reduction of the CPS design complexity by the implementation of a meet-in-the-middle approach for system-level modeling. In this direction, the modeling techniques introduced in this work facilitate the architectural design space exploration, critical cross-domain variable analysis (especially important in the component interfaces), and system-level optimization and verification

Self-aware reliable monitoring

Cyber-Physical Systems (CPSs) can be found in almost all technical areas where they constitute a key enabler for anticipated autonomous machines and devices. They are used in a wide range of applications such as autonomous driving, traffic control, manufacturing plants, telecommunication systems, smart grids, and portable health monitoring systems. CPSs are facing steadily increasing requirements such as autonomy, adaptability, reliability, robustness, efficiency, and performance. A CPS necessitates comprehensive knowledge about itself and its environment to meet these requirements as well as make rational, well-informed decisions, manage its objectives in a sophisticated way, and adapt to a possibly changing environment. To gain such comprehensive knowledge, a CPS must monitor itself and its environment. However, the data obtained during this process comes from physical properties measured by sensors and may differ from the ground truth. Sensors are neither completely accurate nor precise. Even if they were, they could still be used incorrectly or break while operating. Besides, it is possible that not all characteristics of physical quantities in the environment are entirely known. Furthermore, some input data may be meaningless as long as they are not transferred to a domain understandable to the CPS. Regardless of the reason, whether erroneous data, incomplete knowledge or unintelligibility of data, such circumstances can result in a CPS that has an incomplete or inaccurate picture of itself and its environment, which can lead to wrong decisions with possible negative consequences. Therefore, a CPS must know the obtained data’s reliability and may need to abstract information of it to fulfill its tasks. Besides, a CPS should base its decisions on a measure that reflects its confidence about certain circumstances. Computational Self-Awareness (CSA) is a promising solution for providing a CPS with a monitoring ability that is reliable and robust — even in the presence of erroneous data. This dissertation proves that CSA, especially the properties abstraction, data reliability, and confidence, can improve a system’s monitoring capabilities regarding its robustness and reliability. The extensive experiments conducted are based on two case studies from different fields: the health- and industrial sectors

Advanced Primary Controllers for Inverter Based Power Sources: Microgrids and Wind Power Plants

The aim of this doctoral thesis is to present the research activity fulfilled during the Ph.D. studies. The research project of the candidate was focused on two main cores. The first core is centred in the microgrid area; in particular in islanded microgrid modelling and control. Firstly, the model was compared with experimental results collected in some facilities available at University of Genoa. Then traditional controllers for islanded microgrid are analysed and explored, proposing a new stability estimation procedure for droop controlled microgrid. Finally, a new control strategy based on Model Predictive Control (MPC) is proposed in order to collect many functionalities in just one control layer. MPC is widely used in MG environment, but just for power and energy management at tertiary level; instead here it is here proposed with an inedited use. Some experimental validations about this new methodology are obtained during a research period in Serbia and Denmark. The second core is related with synthetic inertia for wind turbine connected to the main grid, i.e. frequency support during under-frequency transients. This aspect is very important today because it represents a way to increase grid stability in low inertia power systems. The importance of this feature is shared by all the most important Transmitter System Operators (TSO) all over the world

Minimum noise impact aircraft trajectories

Numerical optimization is used to compute the optimum flight paths, based upon a parametric form that implicitly includes some of the problem restrictions. The other constraints are formulated as penalties in the cost function. Various aircraft on multiple trajectores (landing and takeoff) can be considered. The modular design employed allows for the substitution of alternate models of the population distribution, aircraft noise, flight paths, and annoyance, or for the addition of other features (e.g., fuel consumption) in the cost function. A reduction in the required amount of searching over local minima was achieved through use of the presence of statistical lateral dispersion in the flight paths

Avaliação de modelos de negócio inovadores em PME: a servitização dos fabricantes de tecnologia de produção avançada para as rochas ornamentais

Variadas empresas industriais de referência têm apostado no crescimento, adotando a servitização como estratégia integrada de produtos/serviços, gerando vantagem competitiva relativamente à concorrência por baixos custos. Esta dissertação visa avaliar a relevância de modelos de negócio suportados na servitização, para PME Fabricantes de Tecnologia de Produção Avançada para as Rochas Ornamentais (RO). Assim, concebeu-se e testou-se um modelo conceptual que proporciona um contexto holístico transversal para as operações, incluindo três dimensões: estratégia, estrutura organizacional, infraestrutura tecnológica. Este modelo suporta um processo de inquérito organizado e sistemático para endereçar o estado-da-arte da servitização, nos dois casos de estudo. Os dados primários foram recolhidos por entrevistas semi-estruturadas, completadas por observação "in loco" e dados secundários. Confirmou-se qualitativamente a usabilidade/utilidade do modelo para discutir e avaliar modelos de negócio inovadores numa PME, pela relevância dos resultados obtidos. Foram detetados estágios primários de servitização que tenderão a evoluir, em função da adoção como "standard" para a estrutura organizacional, quer de plataformas tecnológicas digitais associadas à Indústria 4.0, quer de redes colaborativas (RC). Constatou-se ainda, a ausência de inovação aberta por parte dos clientes, gerando fortíssimos sentimentos de posse dos recursos físicos, capital, informação e dados, o que condiciona a servitização e ameaça a sobrevivência do "cluster". Contudo, a esperada introdução obrigatória do "Building Information Modeling" irá requerer RC operacionalizadas em organizações virtuais e respetivos ambientes de criação, gerando vantagem competitiva nas RO e viabilizando o progresso da servitização. O projeto mobilizador INOVSTONE 4.0 exemplifica esta dinâmica inovadora no "cluster" das RO.Many industrial companies have been adopting servitization as an integrated product/service strategy to achieve growth and competitive advantage concerning low cost competition. This thesis aims at assessing the relevance of servitization business models for Advanced Manufacturing Technology (AMT) SME that supply the Ornamental Stones (OS) cluster. A conceptual framework was designed and tested. It proposes a holistic context that is cross sectional to SME operations by addressing strategy, organizational structure, technological infrastructure. The framework supports an organized and systematic process of inquiry to approach the state-of-the-art of servitization in the investigated case studies. Primary data were gathered by semi-structured interviews and, completed by in loco observation and secondary data. The framework usefulness/usability to discuss and assess the adoption of innovative business models in a SME was qualitatively confirmed by the outcomes relevance. This research has identified primary stages of servitization taking place into the AMT SME. They might progress towards advanced servitization, if both digital business platforms associated with Industry4.0 and collaborative networks are deployed as the standard for organisational arrangements. Moreover, the lack of open innovation in the OS SME generates strong feelings of ownership towards physical resources, capital, information and data that constrains the progress of servitization and provides a threat to the cluster survival. However, a mandatory progress towards "Building Information Modeling" is expected, which is going to generate strong requirements for virtual breeding environments and virtual organisations that will leverage competitive advantage and enable servitization progress. INOVSTONE 4.0 initiative exemplifies this innovative dynamic in OS