Architectural Design Decisions for Data Communication of Cyber-Physical Systems

Designing Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) is a complex task involving integrating physical and digital components to achieve specific objectives. This process consolidates data from various Internet of Things (IoT) devices and sources to generate meaningful insights and actionable outcomes. IoT-cloud data communication comprises multiple stages, e.g., data collection, processing, analysis, and visualization. Adopting a comprehensive approach that considers physical and digital aspects is essential to ensure effective data communication in CPS. As a result, architectural design choices are crucial in determining CPS functionality and runtime qualities, e.g., performance, security, and reliability. While numerous CPS architectural patterns and practices have been proposed, much of the relevant knowledge remains scattered across various sources, such as practitioner blogs and system documentation. These sources are often based on personal experiences and lack consistency. To address this gap, our study presents the outcomes of an in-depth qualitative investigation into practitioners' descriptions of the best practices and patterns in CPS architecture. We have developed a formal architectural decision model using a model-based qualitative research method. We aim to bridge the division between scientific understanding and practical use cases, enhance comprehension of practitioners' approaches to CPS, and provide decision-making support for designing CPS applications.