Classifying Interoperability Problems in Cyber-Physical Systems: Empirical Cases From OpenWrt

Abstract

Reuse of cyber-physical modules is critical to accelerate the development times and reduce design costs of cyber-physical systems (CPS). Successful module reuse depends on the ability to mitigate interoperability problems. Over the years, different communities have worked to understand and mitigate these problems leading to different interoperability models, oftentimes tied to particular domains. One important question, tackled in this article, is whether these models can help with the design of CPS. Specifically, this article evaluates a real-world example of a CPS against the levels of conceptual interoperability model (LCIM). The approach followed leverages natural language processing techniques to narrow an initial set of system changes down to a subset of problems, some of which are interoperability problems. This effort enables a comparison between the empirical evidence found and the interoperability model considered. The results obtained show that the observed interoperability problems fit well under the multilevel categories proposed by the LCIM. Furthermore, the LCIM seems to provide a complete description for the interoperability problems found, checking for fit and completeness. A significant impact of the results obtained is the enabling of more focused discussions of the key attributes of said problems and subsequent identification and assessment of the effectiveness of existing mitigation approaches.