Resource sharing in cyber-physical systems: modelling framework and case studies

Cyber-physical systems (CPSs) have attracted significant research interest because of their promising applications across different domains; nonetheless, how to effectively model CPSs in real applications is still a challenge. In this article, a resource sharing-based framework (RSBF) for CPSs is developed to enable flexible modelling of a wide range of CPSs and systems of CPSs, with specific focus on resource sharing. RSBF combines elements from graph theory and social welfare to describe complex arrangements of overlapping task and resource communities in CPSs, with the objective of maximising CPS utility through decentralised control. The framework implementation is validated through three case studies: scheduling in smart factories, energy distribution in smart grids and information routing in multi-robot systems. Results show that RSBF can successfully represent the dissimilar systems under study. Furthermore, performance analysis on benchmark scheduling problems yields near-optimal results with less computational time, showing the potential of the use of social welfare functions to CPS modelling and control.