Formalizing Cyber--Physical System Model Transformation via Abstract Interpretation

Model transformation tools assist system designers by reducing the labor--intensive task of creating and updating models of various aspects of systems, ensuring that modeling assumptions remain consistent across every model of a system, and identifying constraints on system design imposed by these modeling assumptions. We have proposed a model transformation approach based on abstract interpretation, a static program analysis technique. Abstract interpretation allows us to define transformations that are provably correct and specific. This work develops the foundations of this approach to model transformation. We define model transformation in terms of abstract interpretation and prove the soundness of our approach. Furthermore, we develop formalisms useful for encoding model properties. This work provides a methodology for relating models of different aspects of a system and for applying modeling techniques from one system domain, such as smart power grids, to other domains, such as water distribution networks.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures; to appear in HASE 2019 proceeding

A Graph-Based Model for Component-Based Software Development

Software metrics can be used to objectively quantify the quality of software components and systems, alleviating quality and risk concerns and raising assurance in component-based systems. In this paper, we present a graph-based model for component-based software development. We assume that a number of components have been characterized in terms of non-functional metrics of importance to the software system being developed, and that the interfaces connecting various components have been similarly characterized. The emphasis of this work is on cost and quality of the system under development, and reaching an acceptable compromise between the two

Securing The Transportation Of Tomorrow: Enabling Self-Healing Intelligent Transportation

The safety of autonomous vehicles relies on dependable and secure infrastructure for intelligent transportation. The doctoral research described in this paper aims to enable self-healing and survivability of the intelligent transportation systems required for autonomous vehicles (AV-ITS). The proposed approach is comprised of four major elements: qualitative and quantitative modeling of the AV-ITS, stochastic analysis to capture and quantify interdependencies, mitigation of disruptions, and validation of efficacy of the self-healing process. This paper describes the overall methodology and presents preliminary results, including an agent-based model for detection of and recovery from disruptions to the AV-ITS

A General Purpose Framework for Wireless Sensor Network Applications

Wireless sensor networks are becoming a basis for a rapidly increasing range of applications. Habitat, flood, and wildfire monitoring are interesting examples of such applications. Each application has different requirements in terms of node functionalities, network size, complexity and cost; therefore, it is worthwhile time investment to design and implement a general purpose framework for wireless sensor networks that would be adaptable to any monitoring application of interest with a minimum amount of effort. In this manuscript, we propose a basic structure for such a framework and highlight a number of challenges anticipated during the course of this doctoral research

Integrated Cyber-Physical Simulation of Intelligent Water Distribution Networks

In cyber-physical systems (CPSs), embedded computing systems and communication capability are used to streamline and fortify the operation of a physical system. Intelligent critical infrastructure systems are among the most important CPSs and also prime examples of pervasive computing systems, as they exploit computing to provide "anytime, anywhere&quot

An Autonomous and Adaptable Wireless Device for Flood Monitoring

Wireless devices can be used to monitor and record a broad range of phenomena. Their advantages include ease of installation and maintenance and considerable reduction in wiring costs. The addition of battery power and radio communication to such wireless devices can result in a completely The operating environment of monitoring systems is often hostile, due to temperature fluctuations, humidity, electromagnetic noise, and other interfering phenomena. The system should be able to adapt to changing conditions to maintain dependability in its operations This paper presents the case study of adapting a flood detection device to the environmental threat of submersion

Efficiently Managing Security Concerns in Component Based System Design

Component-based software development (CBSD) offers many advantages like reduced product time to market, reduced complexity and cost etc. Despite these advantages its wide scale utilization in developing security critical systems is currently hampered because of lack, of suitable design techniques to efficiently manage the complete system security concerns in the development process. The use of commercial of the shelf (COTS) components can introduce various security and reliability risks in the system. In this paper we propose a methodology for efficient management of all the system security concerns involved in the design of component based systems. Our methodology is based on formally representing the system security specifications and component capabilities. We identify the metrics for correlating both and suggest extensions to a previously proposed software development process, for selection of suitable components and integration mechanisms. The proposed solution ensures due treatment of all the security concerns for the complete system in the acquisition efforts

Software Engineering Metrics for COTS-Based Systems

The paradigm shift to commercial off-the-shelf components appears inevitable, necessitating drastic changes to current software development and business practices. Quality and risk concerns currently limit the application of COTS based system design to noncritical applications. New approaches to quality and risk management will be needed to handle the growth of CBSs. Our metrics based approach and software engineering metrics can aid developers and managers in analyzing the return on investment in quality improvement initiatives for CBSs. These metrics also facilitate the modeling of cost and quality, although we need more complex models to capture the intricate relationships between cost and quality metrics in a CBS

Temporal Modeling of Software Test Coverage

This paper presents a temporal model for the coverage achieved by software testing. The proposed model, which is applicable at any level of the testing hierarchy, can determine the value of test coverage at any given time, as well as predicting future values. The model is comprised of two main components: coverage functions, and the coverage matrix. The coverage functions represent the coverage of a single entity as a function of time and reflect the test environment through their stochastic parameters. The coverage matrix utilizes the coverage functions to depict the coverage attained for each entity by each test within the test suite. A normalized sum of the elements of the coverage matrix is used to represent the overall coverage achieved by the test suite, as a function of time. The application of the model to multi-phase testing is illustrated In the application section, test coverage values from Y2K compliance testing are used to verify model predictions

Metrics-Guided Quality Management for Component-Based Software Systems

The growing reliance on commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) components for developing large-scale projects introduces a new paradigm in software Engineering; which requires the design of new software development and business processes. Large scale component reuse leads to savings in development resources, enabling these resources to be applied to areas such as quality improvement. These savings come at the price of integration difficulties, performance constraints, and incompatibility of components from multiple vendors. Relying on COTS components also increases the system\u27\u27s vulnerability to risks arising from third-party development, which can negatively affect the quality of the system, as well as causing expenses not incurred in traditional software development. We aim to alleviate such concerns by using software metrics to accurately quantify factors contributing to the overall quality of a component-based system, guiding quality and risk management by identifying and eliminating sources of ris