Design Contracts For Networked Automation Systems Co-design

TL;DR

This paper analyzes timing imperfections in networked automation systems, classifies jitter sources, and proposes the use of design contracts with jitter margins to improve co-design across control, computation, communication, and information domains.

Contribution

It introduces a systematic classification of jitter in NAS and applies design contracts to model and manage timing interfaces among system domains.

Findings

Jitter in NAS can be classified into hardware, software, and communication domains.

Modeling timing imperfections with design contracts improves system co-design.

Control theory helps determine jitter margins for reliable NAS operation.

Abstract

Networked automation systems (NAS) are characterized by confluence of control, computation, communication and Information (C3I) technologies. Design decisions of one domain are affected by the constraints posed by others. Reliable NAS design should address the requirements of the system, and simultaneously meet the constraints posed by other domains and this is called co-design in literature. Co-design requires clear definition of interfaces among these domains. Control design in NAS is affected by the timing imperfections posed by other domains. In this investigation, we first study the different sources of timing imperfections in NAS, and classify them based on their occurrence. The concept of jitter is used to define the timing imperfections induced by various system components. Using this analysis, we classify the jitter based on their behavior and domain of occurrence. Our analysis shows that the jitter induced in NAS can be classified based on domain as- hardware, software and communication. Next, we use this analysis to model the jitter from the components of NAS. Modeling timing imperfections helps in capturing the interfaces among the domains, and we use the concept of design contracts to capture the interfaces. Design contracts describe the semantic mapping among the domains and are specified using the jitter margins. Implementing design contracts requires knowledge of the jitter margin and, the results from control theory are used to this extent.