Complexity Challenges in Cyber Physical Systems

Cyber Physical Systems

Modeling and Simulation to Balance Enthusiasm and Caution

Kris Rosfjord

The MITRE Corporation, McLean, VA, USA

We are in the midst of a rapid emergence in the use of and dependence on cyber physical systems. These systems are becoming further integrated into our critical infrastructure, health systems, defense capabilities, manufacturing processes, and personal property. The chapters in this book laid out how the thoughtful and creative application of modeling and simulation to cyber physical systems engineering is an avenue towards exploiting the CPS potential while guarding against the risks. Here I will briefly touch upon three of the introduced topics: timescale challenges, conceptual expectations, and workforce shortage.

In addition to balancing the inherent complexities of embedding computing into the physical world, there is a need to address both the legacy components and processes as well as the new systems. The need for cyber physical solutions to be reliable, safe, scalable, and adaptable exacerbates this challenge. The incorporation of legacy components creates a system comprised of parts with greatly differing lifetimes including

• Industrial components with an expected lifetime in the 10s of years (Givehchi et al. 2017)
• Network standards that have changed approximately once every 10 years
• Physical sensors with a lifetime on the order of year(s)
• Software with a lifetime on the order of months

The modeling and simulation approaches described ...