Domain-Specific Languages for Cyber-Physical Systems : A Survey

Cyber-physical systems are systems that are interactions of computation with physical processes. They are incredibly complex and multidisciplinary, and thus benefit from models in order to achieve requirements such as interoperability and reliability. A model in the form of a domain-specific language (DSL) presents itself as an attractive solution to managing the complexity of CPS as it is geared towards a more specific application domain and can solve domain-specific issues. This paper looks at concerns a CPS model should address, proposes necessary features a DSL for CPS should have, and analyses existing DSLs and the concrete features they implement. Its aim is to be a starting point for creating DSLs by identifying some of the overarching things that a DSL should be able to do, present concrete features and capabilities, and give an overview of existing work.