Formal Methods in the Design and Verification of Cyber-Physical Systems

University of Notre Dame


Description (Fall 2010): Cyber-physical systems (CPS) are systems in which computational (cyber) processes interact closely with physical dynamical processes. The design and verification of such systems requires a good understanding of formal mathematical methods that are found in both computer science and the traditional engineering disciplines. These formal methods are used to model, verify, and design complex embedded systems in which the interaction of computational and physical processes must be approached in a holistic manner. This course introduces first/second year graduate students to the formal methods used in the verification and design of cyber-physical systems with specific applications drawn from the area of networked embedded real-time control.

Fall 2010 Topics: Verification of CPS
  1. Systems Theoretic Approach to Engineering
  2. Dynamical Systems
  3. Existence of Solutions
  4. State Based Models of Dynamical Systems
  5. Logical Specifications on System Behavior
  6. Stability Concepts
  7. Formal Verification of Computational Systems (rough draft)
Grading: This course is built around the lectures. Students are expected to read the materials and particpate in class discussions. At the end of the semester, each student will give a 15 minute presentation on a topic of interest to them. There will be no homework or exams.