Charter for the Center for Hybrid Embedded Software Systems

The CHESS Center operated from 2002 through 2017. See Industrial Cyberphysical Systems (iCyPhy) for more recent research. The CHESS website is no longer actively being maintanied.

ABSTRACT

"The term cyber-physical systems (CPS) was coined by Helen Gill at the National Science Foundation in the U.S. to refer to the integration of computation with physical processes. In CPS, embedded computers and networks monitor and control the physical processes, usually with feedback loops where physical processes affect computations and vice versa. The design of such systems, therefore, requires understanding the joint dynamics of computers, software, networks, and physical processes. It is this study of joint dynamics that sets this discipline apart."

"When studying CPS, certain key problems emerge that are rare in so-called general-purpose computing. For example, in general-purpose software, the time it takes to perform a task is an issue of performance, not correctness. It is not incorrect to take longer to perform a task. It is merely less convenient and therefore less valuable. In CPS, the time it takes to perform a task may be critical to correct functioning of the system. In the physical world, as opposed to the cyber world, the passage of time is inexorable."
- Edward A. Lee and Sanjit Seshia, Introduction to Embedded Systems.

The mission of the Center for Hybrid and Embedded Software Systems (CHESS) is to provide an environment for graduate research in cyber-physical systems by developing model-based and tool-supported design methodologies for real-time, fault tolerant software on heterogeneous distributed platforms that interact with the physical world. CHESS provides industry with innovative software methods, design methodology and tools while helping industry solve real-world problems. CHESS is defining new areas of curricula in engineering and computer science which will result in solving societal issues surrounding aerospace, automotive, consumer electronics and medical devices.

See also the "Center for Hybrid and Embedded Software Systems (CHESS) Overview" Powerpoint presentation.
and the "Center for Hybrid and Embedded Software Systems (CHESS) Poster" presented at the 2008 Berkeley EECS Annual Research Symposium