Modeling and Mitigation of Faults in Cyber-physical Systems with Binary Sensors

This paper presents an analysis framework for correct system operation (i.e. system success) of Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) that deploy binary sensors with possible faults. We discuss potential faults in the interface part of such systems and address solutions for those faults in order to build dependable and reliable CPS applications. As a practical tool, we present a set of models in SIMULINK to help system designers extend simulations of general CPS applications that deploy binary sensor networks. We provide methodologies to add well-defined fault behaviors and offer assessment tools to measure the effects of possible faults on the overall system success. We demonstrate the feasibility of our contributions using a CPS application and explore various architectures for fault mitigation in a holistic design space exploration environment. With the ability to help system designers analyze and assess a non-trivial design space, the presented approach contributes to the design of fault-tolerant CPSs.