Dual aspect model for failure forecasting in cyber-physical systems

Cyber physical systems (CPSs) are complex systems whose performance depends on the interactions between heterogeneous subsystems, the external environment, and the interrelations among natural systems and its cyber-physical augmentations -- Any fault that occur during these diverse and interrelated interactions may cause failure or a malfunction of the entire system -- The traditional multi-aspects modelling techniques developed for analysing complex systems performance can to some extent fundamentally be used in the analysis of CPSs -- The problem, however, is that these modelling techniques do not consider the consequences of the integration of natural systems and cyber-physical augmentations -- In this article, we propose a novel dual-aspect modelling technique that integrates natural and CPSs functional systems -- This modeling technique includes natural systems such as plants and humans as integral parts of the system, and therefore allow us to study their interactions, influences and effects -- A cyber-physical greenhouse case study is presented to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed modelling technique -- The proposed dual aspect modelling technique will be used in the subsequent stages of our research to analyse the interactions between natural systems and CPS augmentations with a view to identify influential factors of failure in system operation as well as the cause and types or modes failure