Analytic virtual integration of cyber-physical systems & AADL: challenges, threats and opportunities

The design and implementation of cyber-physical systems gather multiple domains, from low-level physics up to complex control of systems to implement a full function. Such complexity requires particular strategy to characterize each level of abstractions, and then integration to ensure the system under consideration is correctly built. The advent of Model-Based Engineering is often perceived as a silver bullet to achieve all these complex tasks: the system designer can master its design through proper model artifacts (blocks, connections, properties, ...), virtual integration of system blocks, and analysis. However, current MBE processes usually cover vertical analysis, and address only a few aspects like scheduling or behavioral analysis, while CPS would require also horizontal analysis of the system, combining analysis results. In this position paper, we review experiments on the use of AADL to design CPS, and highlight challenges, threats and opportunities to support analytical virtual integration