Software-defined cyber-physical multinetworks

Advances in sensing technologies, mobile and pervasive computing, and cyberphysical systems are making new modalities of information and new channels of communication available. We discuss challenges in leveraging heterogeneous networking technologies to create resilient and flexible infrastructure for information collection and information dissemination in cyber-physical environments. We will also discuss how middleware technologies can assist in supporting cross-layer interactions amongst (a) the devices that collect and receive information, (b) multiple networks that communicate the content, (c) the platforms that process and store the information and (d) applications that use the information for diverse purposes. Drawing on examples from cyber-physical systems, we show how multinetworks can help drive semantic middleware to incorporate diverse sensors and inputs in a structured manner to generate situational awareness.. In particular, we discuss the role of multinetworks in emergency situations (whether natural hazards or manmade disasters) where infrastructure is typically unavailable or partially damaged. Multinetworks provide more reliability and better performance of information sharing and alert dissemination to responders and citizen at large than traditional single communication networks. The reason is that multinetworks allow combining connectivities that open up new possibilities for resilient, adaptive and scalable societal scale systems of the future.