I-Corps: Market Evaluation for Credible Autocoding (MECA)

汽车、飞机和放射治疗机都是安全关键的网络物理系统的例子，即，系统将软件和物理工件结合在一起，形成对社会具有高功能价值的智能系统。这些系统被称为安全关键型系统，因为意外的故障会迅速导致生命损失。该项目涉及调查工业界对未来几代网络物理系统开发的需求，特别强调软件对整体系统安全的影响。通过正确识别行业的需求，该团队将能够建立一个有效和相关的安全关键软件开发过程，并制定有关产品的建议，需要开发，以支持这一过程。为此，调查人员将与行业代表进行一系列面对面的访谈，并将与业务发展专家分享访谈结果。为了支持访谈，该团队将依靠其在构建原型工具方面的经验，该原型工具可以自动将高级安全关键软件规范转换为无错误的计算机程序。 可信的自动编码是项目团队创造的一个术语，是将网络物理软件系统规范转换为代码的活动，以及代码本身满足这些系统规范的可验证保证。该项目的假设是，可靠的自动编码将有助于达到这些系统为被民间社会接受而必须达到的非常高的安全水平;可靠的自动编码降低了开发成本，这也将确保更广泛的人口能够享受网络物理革命的好处，因为这将使小公司能够在目前只有大公司才能负担得起安全关键软件认证的极端成本的市场中竞争。这项研究将包括现场采访几个决策者与市场的工作，其中可信的自动编码可能是必要的。这些访谈的结果将以结构化的方式定期提交给NSF I Corps管理层认可的专家。一个积极的结果将提供一个坚实的基础，在此基础上，我的团队可以获得资金，并继续进行产品开发活动，以满足行业？s的需要。无论结果如何，这些结果都将为团队提供调整其产品定义工作的机会。这种适应可能发生在所有层面，从产品包装到团队在安全关键的网络物理系统领域追求的基本研究选择。这些活动将得到Gene-Auto+的支持，Gene-Auto+是该团队在NSF先前资助下开发的可靠的自动编码原型。

Automobiles, airplanes, and radio-therapy machines are all examples of safety-critical cyber-physical systems, i.e., systems that bring together software and physical artifacts to form intelligent systems of high functional value to society. These systems are called safety-critical, because unanticipated failures can rapidly lead to the loss of lives. This project is concerned with investigating the needs of industry for the development of future generations of cyber-physical systems, with a specific emphasis on software's impact on overall system safety. By properly identifying industry's needs, the team will be able to establish an effective and relevant safety-critical software development process and formulate recommendations about the products that need developing in support of this process. To do so, the investigators will engage into a series of face-to-face interviews with industry representatives, and the findings of the interviews will be shared with business development specialists. To support the interviews, the team will rely on its experience with building a prototype tool that automatically turns high-level safety-critical software specifications into error-free computer programs. Credible autocoding, a term coined by the project team, is the activity whereby cyber-physical software system specifications are transformed into code, together with the verifiable assurance that the code itself meets those system specifications. The hypothesis of this project is that credible autocoding will contribute to reaching the very high levels of safety these systems must achieve in order to be accepted by civil society; the lower development costs enabled by credible autocoding will also ensure that a broader share of the population will be able to enjoy the benefits of the cyber-physical revolution, as this will allow small companies to compete in a market where currently only big players can afford extreme costs of safety-critical software certification. This study will consist of on-site interviews with several decision-makers working with the markets in which credible autocoding might be a necessity. The outcome of these interviews will be presented in a structured fashion to experts accredited by the NSF I-Corps management at regular intervals. A positive outcome would provide a solid base upon which the I-Corps team can obtain funding and proceed with product development activities meeting industry?s needs. No matter what the outcome, these results will give the team an opportunity to adapt its product definition effort. Such an adaptation may occur at all levels, ranging from product packaging to the basic research options pursued by the team in the area of safety-critical, cyber-physical systems. These activities will be supported by Gene-Auto+, the team's credible autocoding prototype developed under prior funding from NSF.