Cyber Physical Systems : A Review

The word “cyber physical system” (CPS) refers to those systems which feature tight integration of computation with physical processes. The example application areas of cyber-physical systems (CPSs) include automated medical devices, air traffic management, automotive systems, smart homes and building, hydro-electric dam controls, data centers, critical infrastructures, industrial control systems and environmental control. Modern CPSs range from small sized pace makers to large-scale national smart power grids. CPSs differ from conventional embedded systems in that CPSs are designed as a network of interacting elements which have physical input and output unlike embedded systems which typically act as standalone devices. An example of CPS is a body sensor network (BSN), which is a network of medical devices that can observe, react, and communicate with other BSNs or operators through a wireless network. The confluence of the underlying CPS technologies offers new opportunities for the researchers. Further development of the field of CPS will require integration of techniques across various application areas. To provide a deep understanding of CPS field in a large spectrum of application areas, in this chapter, we review recent advances in the development and applications of CPSs. For sake of brevity, we discuss examples of only few research works, which helps in obtaining a broader picture of cyber physical systems. We especially focus on the applications of CPSs to give the reader an overview of the potential of CPSs. BACKGROUND