Consistency and synchronization for workflows in cyber-physical systems: poster abstract

Abstract

Workflow technologies provide sophisticated concepts and tools for a simplified high-level programming of enterprise applications across individual systems and organizational borders. They are also useful to compose flexible and reusable workflows in cyber-physical systems (CPS) involving hardware devices, software applications, smart objects and humans. In this work, we discuss the concepts of Cyber-physical Consistency and Cyber-physical Synchronization for workflows in CPS. Consistency enables verification of the workflow execution by comparing the assumed virtual world outcome with the actual effects in the physical world. Synchronization is used for restoring a consistent state in case of deviations realized by the MAPE-K control loop for self-adaptive systems. We discuss these concepts based on example workflows in the smart home domain.