Conceptualizing a framework for cyber-physical systems of systems development and deployment

Cyber-physical systems (CPS) refer to the next generation of embedded ICT systems that are interconnected, collaborative and that provide users and businesses with a wide range of smart applications and services. Software in CPS applications ranges from small systems to large systems, aka. Systems of Systems (SoS), such as smart grids and cities. CPSoS require managing massive amounts of data, being aware of their emerging behavior, and scaling out to progressively evolve and add new systems. Cloud computing supports processing and storing massive amounts of data, hosting and delivering services, and configuring self-provisioned resources. Therefore, cloud computing is the natural candidate to solve CPSoS needs. However, the diversity of platforms and the low-level cloud programming models make difficult to find a common solution for the development and deployment of CPSoS. This paper presents the architectural foundations of a cloud-centric framework for automating the development and deployment of CPSoS service applications to converge towards a common open service platform for CPSoS applications. This framework relies on the well-known qualities of the microservices architecture style, the autonomic computing paradigm, and the model-driven software development approach. Its implementation and validation is on-going at two European and national projects.