Networked Cyberphysical Systems
P.R. Kumar


Networked computers controlling distributed physical systems represent the next phase of development from several different technological points of view. For the networking community, they can be seen as the next logical step beyond sensor networks, since actuation is also supported. For the real time community, it represents an advanced into networked systems. For the control community, they can be regarded as the third generation of control, coming after the first two generations of analog control and digital control. Such networked cyberphysical systems are expected to be increasingly important as we enter the large scale system building era of the twenty-first century. We present both an account of several foundational research topics that underlie this area, as well as examples of system building possibilities. As research topics of interest for these next generation systems, we survey issues in data fusion, real-time communication, clock synchronization, security, middleware, hybrid systems and proofs of correctness.