STRATA: Layers for Structuring Trustworthy Ambient Systems
Developing a layered approach to ambient systems and the Internet of Things
Project leader
Dates
June 2016 to May 2021
Sponsors
EPSRC Platform grant (EP/N023641)
Description
Ambient devices work in the background of people's lives. Unlike, say, smartphones, we don't have to interact with them. They don't rely on our input. They also play a role in Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS). A CPS is a network of devices that interact with each other. The rapid evolution in CPS poses significant new challenges. Computing as a whole, and ambient systems in particular, need to confront these challenges.
A major impetus towards CPS is the promised Internet of Things (IoT). The scale of the IoT could soon involve trillions of devices generating masses of real-time data. It will thus demand unprecedented power. To sustain this scaling and huge surge in energy demand, ambient systems will need to trade off power, performance and reliability. This will need ever more sophisticated responses to achieve trustworthiness.
Trustworthy ambient systems: an EPSRC platform grant
Two important factors affecting ambient system design shaped our TrAmS-2 platform:
- Device power provision and consumption, rather than cost, was becoming the limiting factor.
- Novel paradigms such as cloud computing offered a new dimension of ambience. We can migrate data and programs without physical movement of agents.
Our expertise
The TrAmS-2 platform grant has proved invaluable to our research group. We have created new projects on sound technical foundations. We have developed methods and tools to model, design and analyse Trustworthy Ambient Systems. We are developing methods for designing mobile devices with energy-efficient and power-constrained hardware.
Our project portfolio includes 13 EPSRC, EU, industry and other projects. We develop applications for use in many sectors. These include automotive, rail, space, business, healthcare and consumer electronics.
Our current arsenal includes the powerful toolsets of Rodin, Workcraft and Symphony. We develop advanced patterns for modelling fault tolerance and world-leading techniques in proof technology and simulation. We provide ample evidence to support industrial deployment of formal engineering methods.
A layered approach to ambient systems
Thus, we enter Strata well equipped with formal engineering methods and advanced tool support. We will implement architectural and algorithmic approaches for embedded systems design and modelling. This includes our skills in capturing systems with multiple modes targeted at power and reliability.
Strata will provide the research platform with extra impetus. It will do this through a two-pronged attack on the challenges of future ambient systems design. This will enable a qualitative step in rigorous and model-based approaches to future resource-limited ambient systems.
The cornerstone of the platform approach is in future complex ambient systems being structured in layers. These layers, or strata, of system resources and functionality will be combined with cross-layer fault tolerance and even adherence to the specification. They will exist in an environment where it is accepted that components will fail. Strata will address the challenges in four interlinked themes:
- methodology
- cross-layer fault tolerance
- real-time layering
- real power
Skills across the research groups are complementary. Together, we provide a solid research base in software, systems and microelectronics. We have established a unique team in capability and expertise. We have international profiles in formal methods, dependability, real-time and energy-modulated systems. Strata will provide continuity for research staff, encouraging new, risky, research in areas created by this novel mix of expertise.