Platform For Cyber-Physical Systems Research Articles

Sine-Cosine-Adopted African Vultures Optimization with Ensemble Autoencoder-Based Intrusion Detection for Cybersecurity in CPS Environment.

A Cyber-Physical System (CPS) is a network of cyber and physical elements that interact with each other. In recent years, there has been a drastic increase in the utilization of CPSs, which makes their security a challenging problem to address. Intrusion Detection Systems (IDSs) have been used for the detection of intrusions in networks. Recent advancements in the fields of Deep Learning (DL) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) have allowed the development of robust IDS models for the CPS environment. On the other hand, metaheuristic algorithms are used as feature selection models to mitigate the curse of dimensionality. In this background, the current study presents a Sine-Cosine-Adopted African Vultures Optimization with Ensemble Autoencoder-based Intrusion Detection (SCAVO-EAEID) technique to provide cybersecurity in CPS environments. The proposed SCAVO-EAEID algorithm focuses mainly on the identification of intrusions in the CPS platform via Feature Selection (FS) and DL modeling. At the primary level, the SCAVO-EAEID technique employs Z-score normalization as a preprocessing step. In addition, the SCAVO-based Feature Selection (SCAVO-FS) method is derived to elect the optimal feature subsets. An ensemble Deep-Learning-based Long Short-Term Memory-Auto Encoder (LSTM-AE) model is employed for the IDS. Finally, the Root Means Square Propagation (RMSProp) optimizer is used for hyperparameter tuning of the LSTM-AE technique. To demonstrate the remarkable performance of the proposed SCAVO-EAEID technique, the authors used benchmark datasets. The experimental outcomes confirmed the significant performance of the proposed SCAVO-EAEID technique over other approaches with a maximum accuracy of 99.20%.

Explainable Artificial Intelligence Enabled Intrusion Detection Technique for Secure Cyber-Physical Systems

A cyber-physical system (CPS) can be referred to as a network of cyber and physical components that communicate with each other in a feedback manner. A CPS is essential for daily activities and approves critical infrastructure as it provides the base for innovative smart devices. The recent advances in the field of explainable artificial intelligence have contributed to the development of robust intrusion detection modes for CPS environments. This study develops an Explainable Artificial Intelligence Enabled Intrusion Detection Technique for Secure Cyber-Physical Systems (XAIID-SCPS). The proposed XAIID-SCPS technique mainly concentrates on the detection and classification of intrusions in the CPS platform. In the XAIID-SCPS technique, a Hybrid Enhanced Glowworm Swarm Optimization (HEGSO) algorithm is applied for feature selection purposes. For intrusion detection, the Improved Elman Neural Network (IENN) model was utilized with an Enhanced Fruitfly Optimization (EFFO) algorithm for parameter optimization. Moreover, the XAIID-SCPS technique integrates the XAI approach LIME for better understanding and explainability of the black-box method for accurate classification of intrusions. The simulation values demonstrate the promising performance of the XAIID-SCPS technique over other approaches with maximum accuracy of 98.87%.

A lightweight device-level Public Key Infrastructure with DRAM based Physical Unclonable Function (PUF) for secure cyber physical systems

Cyber–Physical Systems (CPS) are becoming increasingly ubiquitous and serve as a platform for connecting vast majority of everyday devices to the Internet. Traditional computer-based security systems are not preferred in CPS devices due to limited storage, security issues, and computation power, thus necessitating the demand for efficient and secure computation techniques that would ensure robust CPS platforms. In this paper, we proposed a lightweight Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) scheme that can be used in CPS devices. Conventional PKI systems are characterized with three resource-intensive processes, namely, key generation, certificate validation, and certificate revoking. The proposed method uses Physical Unclonable Function (PUF) to simplify the key generation process and introduces the session key concept to address the other two limitations, viz., certificate validation and revoking. In addition to this, the proposed method addresses some crucial security needs of the PKI scheme, such as node registration, strong random number generation, defining trust relationships among the different “thing” nodes. Additionally, PUF-based trust relationships require reduced infrastructural setup, lesser power, and storage capacity while also incorporating Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) for asymmetric key pair generation. The proposed method has been realized using a Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM)-based PUF. The experimental result proves the technique’s efficiency compared to the state-of-the-art methods with a 4–7 times, consuming 5–10 times, lesser energy.

Design, Analysis and Implementation of a Security Assessment/Enhancement Platform for Cyber-Physical Systems

To support cyber security assessment and enhancement of cyber-physical systems, a cross-layered experimental prototype platform has been developed. In this article, to make the prototype versatile, a modular approach has been taken. There are in total four modules: 1) Attack scenario generation; 2) security enhancement; 3) security evaluation; and 4) platform management. In reference to typical cyber-enabled industrial control systems, the design philosophy and selection of the architecture for this platform have been examined. To provide interested readers with additional details and to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed platform, a hardware-based cyber security assessment and enhancement prototype platform has been implemented on a lab-scale cyber-physical system. Two types of cyberattacks have been considered to demonstrate the operation of the platform and to validate its functions in an event of a security breach. The results have demonstrated that the design methodology is effective for practical cyber-physical systems, and the platform is a useful tool to identify and analyze vulnerabilities and to evaluate the effectiveness of different security enhancement strategies.

Defense-in-depth against insider attacks in cyber-physical systems

In a cyber-physical system (CPS) built on Internet-of-things (IoT) technologies, whenever measurement and control signals are transferred over communication networks across cyber and physical systems, it potentially becomes a target for adversaries. The problem becomes especially serious if the adversaries are insiders. A single layer of defense may not be strong enough in such a case, as it is difficult to assess the extent of knowledge that the inside attackers may have known about the physical and cyber system configurations, communication networks/protocols, and their respective vulnerabilities. Hence, it is paramount to have a reliable and fail-safe defense-in-depth architecture to fence off would-be-attackers. In this paper, a multi-layer defense-in-depth approach has been developed. For an inside attacker with legitimate access, the first line of defense, such as access control, may have already been compromised. Given this fact, the focus of the current paper has been on detection and mitigation. Both data-driven and model-based techniques are considered to catch stealthy attacks and stop them in their tracks. Effective mitigation techniques can then be deployed to minimize the adverse effects. To demonstrate this design philosophy and validate the effectiveness of the developed methodologies, a lab-scale cyber-physical system platform based on industry-grade communication networks and physical sensors has been used for validation.

Design of a Laboratory Scale Solar Microgrid Cyber-Physical System for Education

Renewable energy sources such as solar and wind provide an effective solution for reducing dependency on conventional power generation and increasing the reliability and quality of power systems. Presented in this paper are design and implementation of a laboratory scale solar microgrid cyber-physical system (CPS) with wireless data monitoring as a teaching tool in the engineering technology curriculum. In the system, the solar panel, battery, charge controller, and loads form the physical layer, while the sensors, communication networks, supervisory control and data acquisition systems (SCADA) and control systems form the cyber layer. The physical layer was seamlessly integrated with the cyber layer consisting of control and communication. The objective was to create a robust CPS platform and to use the system to promote interest in and knowledge of renewable energy among university students. Experimental results showed that the maximum power point tracking (MPPT) charge controller provided the loads with power from the solar panel and used additional power to charge the rechargeable battery. Through the system, students learned and mastered key concepts and knowledge of multi-disciplinary areas including data sampling and acquisition, analog to digital conversion, solar power, battery charging, control, embedded systems and software programing. It is a valuable teaching resource for students to study renewable energy in CPS.

A service-oriented edge platform for cyber-physical systems

The purpose of this paper is to present an edge pervasive platform supporting the development, deployment and management of flexible, context-aware pervasive applications. This platform, named iCasa, is built on top of the OSGi/iPOJO service-oriented component model. It includes an autonomic context module connected to the physical environment and providing information as a dynamic set of services. This context is dynamic in order to reflect the changing nature of the execution environment but also to deal with applications evolving needs. ICasa also comes with an Eclipse-base development environment including a source code editor, build automation tools, automated deployment facilities, and a smart home configurator and simulator. ICasa has been validated on a variety of applications, mostly in collaboration with Orange Telecom company and Schneider Electric. It is available on the Internet (self-star.net) and is heavily used today for teaching purposes, in addition to industrial developments.

Towards Next Generation Building Management Systems

The Internet of Things (IoT) paradigm is gradually finding its way in virtually every industry; however, beyond adding more sensors and measuring and controlling previously inaccessible domains, it is also about transforming ‘legacy’ approaches to control systems, such as those used in Building Management Systems (BMS), by leveraging on the advantages brought by Cyber Physical Systems (CPS). The purpose of this paper is to address several issues gradually emerging in the process of applying the CPS and IoT paradigms to revolutionise BMS. The results of this on-going research aim to help avoid potential pitfalls and provide a sound platform for taking advantage of the benefits brought by this technology in a feasible, effective and controlled manner. More specifically, the paper will address i) the changing meaning of interoperability in the context of the explosion in the number of IoT devices, ii) the need for guidance in adopting sustainable CPS and IoT platforms supporting BMS, based on appropriate non-functional and viable systems principles, iii) emerging issues in the BMS ‘cloudification’ endeavour and iv) the lack of data sources’ correlation resulting in sub-optimal data quality and detail in using Big Data technologies to enable effective analytics for prompt BMS decision-making.

Medical cyber-physical systems: A survey.

Medical cyber-physical systems (MCPS) are healthcare critical integration of a network of medical devices. These systems are progressively used in hospitals to achieve a continuous high-quality healthcare. The MCPS design faces numerous challenges, including inoperability, security/privacy, and high assurance in the system software. In the current work, the infrastructure of the cyber-physical systems (CPS) are reviewed and discussed. This article enriched the researches of the networked Medical Device (MD) systems to increase the efficiency and safety of the healthcare. It also can assist the specialists of medical device to overcome crucial issues related to medical devices, and the challenges facing the design of the medical device's network. The concept of the social networking and its security along with the concept of the wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are addressed. Afterward, the CPS systems and platforms have been established, where more focus was directed toward CPS-based healthcare. The big data framework of CPSs is also included.

Programming support for time-sensitive adaptation in cyberphysical systems

Cyberphysical systems (CPS) integrate embedded sensors, actuators, and computing elements for controlling physical processes. Due to the intimate interactions with the surrounding environment, CPS software must continuously adapt to changing conditions. Enacting adaptation decisions is often subject to strict time requirements to ensure control stability, while CPS software must operate within the tight resource constraints that characterize CPS platforms. Developers are typically left without dedicated programming support to cope with these aspects. This results in either to neglect functional or timing issues that may potentially arise or to invest significant efforts to implement hand-crafted solutions. We provide programming constructs that allow developers to simplify the specification of adaptive processing and to rely on well-defined time semantics. Our evaluation shows that using these constructs simplifies implementations while reducing developers' effort, at the price of a modest memory and processing overhead.

Design of computing platform for cyber-physical systems

Design of computing platform for cyber-physical systems

Interval Type-2 Fuzzy Model Based on Inverse Controller Design for the Outlet Temperature Control System of Ethylene Cracking Furnace

Multivariable coupling, nonlinear and large time delays exist in the coil outlet temperature (COT) control system of the ethylene cracking furnace, which make it hard to achieve accurate control over the COT of the furnace in actual production. To solve these problems, an inverse controller based on an interval type-2 fuzzy model control strategy is introduced. In this paper, the proposed control scheme is divided into two parts: one is the approach structure part of the interval type-2 fuzzy model (IT2-FM), which is utilized to approach the process output. The other is the interval type-2 fuzzy model inverse controller (IT2-FMIC) part, which is utilized to control the output process to achieve the target value. In addition, on the cyber-physical system platform, the actual industrial data are used to test and obtain the mathematical model of the COT control system of the ethylene cracking furnace. Finally, the proposed inverse controller based on the IT2-FM control scheme has been implemented on the COT control system of the ethylene cracking furnace, and the simulation results show that the proposed method is feasible.

The AXIOM platform for next-generation cyber physical systems

Cyber-Physical Systems (CPSs) are widely used in many applications that require interactions between humans and their physical environment. These systems usually integrate a set of hardware-software components for optimal application execution in terms of performance and energy consumption. The AXIOM project (Agile, eXtensible, fast I/O Module), presented in this paper, proposes a hardware-software platform for CPS coupled with an easy parallel programming model and sufficient connectivity so that the performance can scale-up by adding multiple boards. AXIOM supports a task-based programming model based on OmpSs and leverages a high-speed, inexpensive communication interface called AXIOM-Link. The board also tightly couples the CPU with reconfigurable resources to accelerate portions of the applications. As case studies, AXIOM uses smart video surveillance, and smart home living applications.

Cost-effective monitoring algorithm for cyber-physical system platform using combined spatio-temporal model

Cost-effective schemes are essential in cyber-physical system to gather a huge amount of data from physical system in real time. In general, sensor networks monitor the physical system and transfer the data to cyber system which analyzes the data and provides many kinds of useful services for users and controls physical system. Sensors, as elements of ubiquitous sensor networks, have very limited resources (power capacity, processing power, and networking capability). Therefore, in the absence of energy-efficient mechanisms for ubiquitous sensor networks, the network life time will be reduced. In this paper, we present a cost effective monitoring scheme for cyber-physical system platform using spatio-temporal model. Our proposed model combines space and time domains. Sensor data are sent only when data are changed in both space and time domains. If the data are not changed in any domain then the previous data (time domain) or neighboring data (space domain) are used without additional communication cost. We also analyze and compare cost between periodic and aperiodic monitoring model. Using the analysis, we can choose the proper model (periodic or aperiodic) according to cyber-physical system parameters.

Auto-localized multimedia platform based on a modular Cyber Physical System aligned in a two-dimensional grid

In this research, a smart mechanism to automatically configure the relative locations of clustered intelligent nodes arranged in a grid pattern is introduced. If an intelligent node knows the relative location of more than one neighboring node, its location can be recognized. By studying the feature of the grid structure and the short-range infrared signal communication method between the adjacent nodes, the location of an intelligent node and the location map construction of the whole system are configured automatically at each node. The algorithms in this study are tested by a cross-module image or video display task with modularized and reconfigurable digital surface, a modular Cyber-Physical System platform which has stacked `smart modules' each of which has smart sensing and multimedia node with infra-red transceivers at four corners. Exemplary applications demonstrate the feasibility of the system in its scalability and practicality as well as performance by being applied to various spatially reconfigurable multimedia platforms.

A comprehensive co-simulation platform for cyber-physical systems

Cyber-physical systems (CPSs) are the synergy of the physical world with the cyber world. CPSs will bring about unprecedented applications that will enable the monitoring and controlling of the physical environments. CPSs’ further progress necessitates the availability of co-simulation platforms that can capture both the physical and the communication dynamics. In this paper, we build on our previous experiences to build a comprehensive co-simulation platform for CPSs. The newly developed platform enjoys several indispensable features. In the process of discussing the steps to engineer the platform, we present several design alternatives that might prove beneficial in other future tools that combine different simulator environments. We discuss thoroughly why we rule in or rule out each of such alternatives. Then, we validate the developed platform to make sure it works correctly. Finally, we present demonstrative examples showing the capabilities of the platform.

A General Test Platform for Cyber-Physical Systems: Unmanned Vehicle with Wireless Sensor Network Navigation

Cyber-Physical Systems (CPSs) integrate the virtual cyber world with the real physical world. Nowadays, the theories and applications of CPSs still face enormous challenges. In order to facilitate this emerging domain, a general test platform for CPSs, low-priced intelligent vehicle with Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) navigation, is designed to test and verify the proposed methods and theories. We in brief review the research progresses of CPSs, WSNs and unmanned vehicles. By means of deeply analyzing the test platform architecture and WSN navigation principle, the software and hardware of this platform are developed. The experiment results show that the resolution of wireless sensor navigation is less than 0.67m. On the basis of these, how to conduct studies from different perspectives is illustrated, and the implementation challenges are also outlined.