Toward a Graphical Modeling Tool for Response-Time Requirements Based on Soft and Hard Real-Time Capabilities in Industrial Cyber-Physical Systems
Dominik Hujo, Birgit Vogel‐Heuser, Luís Ribeiro · IEEE Journal of Emerging and Selected Topics in Industrial Electronics · 2021
Emerging industrial digitization metaphors such as cyber-physical systems and digital twins increasingly advocate the use of distributed and autonomous modular solutions. This article proposes a visual notation for modeling the timing properties of such modular industrial systems. The proposed work builds upon an existing notation that enables the analysis of the timing properties and requirements of potentially competing automation solutions. It provides a set of symbols that capture, among others, communication networks and devices, I/O interfaces, and industrial controllers. This article extends this preexisting notation by modeling the relation between physical devices and their controlling software in the context of industrial automation applications. The existing notation and its extensions are described and applied to a miniaturized automation system to illustrate its dual usage: as a tool to collect requirements and as a tool to analyze existing systems. The testing scenario highlights the opportunities provided by the extensions in comparison to the preexisting notation, which, for the sake of completeness, is more briefly introduced and described.