Time-related Constraints in Administration Shell Design within Cyber-physical Production Systems

Abstract

The concept of Cyber-physical Production System has recently emerged. It emphasizes the expected and very close connection between industrial software systems and production assets on the next generation of intelligent industrial systems. The cyber-physical conceptualization hints at assets making their functions available through the so called administration shells. These are software structural design tenets that from, a functional perspective, will not only incorporate software interfacing aspects but also autonomous behaviour. There is an important body of practice in what is now perceived as cyber-physical integration. However, such work has taken a somehow informal approach to formalizing system engineering aspects and in particular to the impact of time-related constraints affecting, the design locally and, the CPPS as a whole. This paper provides a model that relates physical, logical and computational aspects of cyber-physical design from structural and behavioural perspectives. Its goal is to provide a starting point for designing cyber-physical components while supporting informed decision making in respect to software design, integration and deployment practices that enable these components to operate in cyber-physical synchronization.