CPS: Synergy: Collaborative Research: TickTalk: Timing API for Federated Cyberphysical Systems

这项研究的目标是使广泛的程序员能够成功地为分布式计算系统（包括智能和互联社区）或需要严格协调或时间同步的系统创建应用程序。例如，为智能十字路口创建应用程序需要从多个来源收集信息，例如摄像头、交通传感器和过往车辆；执行分布式计算；然后触发一些操作，例如警告。这需要多个交互设备之间的同步和协调，包括可能连接到安全关键基础设施的物联网 (IoT) 设备系统。我们不是让程序员承担理解和处理这种复杂性的负担，而是寻求一种新的编程语言、传感器和执行器架构以及通信网络，这些网络可以接受程序员的“做什么”和“何时做”的陈述，并通过管理同步、电源和通信机制将其转化为“如何做”。这种方法将使这些类型的系统能够更加快速地发展，并且可以产生重大的经济发展影响。所提出的方法有四个部分：（1）创建一种新的编程语言，嵌入定时岛的概念——协作且偶尔同步的设备组； (2) 创建一个网络范围的运行时系统，跨设备分发和协调代码块（程序的一部分）的操作； (3) 扩展通信网络的功能，以提高同步设备的能力并将同步质量报告回运行时系统，从而实现自适应程序行为； (4) 扩展设备硬件架构以支持同步和遵守时间的操作。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优点和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The goal of this research is to enable a broad spectrum of programmers to successfully create apps for distributed computing systems including smart and connected communities, or for systems that require tight coordination or synchronization of time. Creating an application for, say, a smart intersection necessitates gathering information from multiple sources, e.g., cameras, traffic sensors, and passing vehicles; performing distributed computation; and then triggering some action, such as a warning. This requires synchronization and coordination amongst multiple interacting devices including systems that are Internet of Things (IoT) devices that may be connected to safety critical infrastructure. Rather than burden the programmer with understanding and dealing with this complexity, we seek a new programming language, sensor and actuator architecture, and communications networks that can take the programmer's statements of "what to do" and "when to do", and translate these into "how to do" by managing mechanisms for synchronization, power, and communication. This approach will enable more rapid development of these types of systems and can have significant economic development impact.The proposed approach has four parts: (1) creating a new programming language that embeds the notion of timing islands -- groups of devices that cooperate and are occasionally synchronized; (2) creating a network-wide runtime system that distributes and coordinates the action of code blocks -- portions of the program -- across devices; (3) extending the capabilities of communications networks to improve the ability to synchronize devices and report the quality of synchronization back to the runtime system, enabling adaptive program behavior; and (4) extending device hardware architecture to support synchronization and time-respecting operation.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.