Assembling Smart Cyber-Physical Systems
Heterogeneous, Diffuse and Green Technological Infrastructures for Cities and Industries
- 1st Edition - August 1, 2026
- Latest edition
- Authors: Zakaria Benomar, Francesco Longo, Giovanni Merlino, Antonio Puliafito
- Language: English
Assembling Smart Cyber-Physical Systems: Heterogeneous, Diffuse and Green Technological Infrastructures for Cities and Industries offers a comprehensive approach on how to design… Read more
Assembling Smart Cyber-Physical Systems: Heterogeneous, Diffuse and Green Technological Infrastructures for Cities and Industries offers a comprehensive approach on how to design, implement, and use Cyber Physical Systems (CPSs)-computing systems with a strong interaction between the physical environment (equipped with sensors and actuators) and the cyber realm (the Cloud). Through a carefully structured methodological approach to systems design, readers will learn how the infrastructure continuum represents our environment, where we can move from edge computing to the Cloud, going through fog resources to set up an entire framework for services deployment and application in smart cities and industries.
As dealing with complex systems has become increasingly difficult, CPSs are increasingly critical to cope with integrating software, which people are used to, with hardware, which is distributed among different domains. This book shows how to deal with such systems where there is no distinction among the different parts: computing, storage, networking, and IoT all contribute to setting up the modern processing environments, thus it is mandatory to keep them simultaneously under control.
As dealing with complex systems has become increasingly difficult, CPSs are increasingly critical to cope with integrating software, which people are used to, with hardware, which is distributed among different domains. This book shows how to deal with such systems where there is no distinction among the different parts: computing, storage, networking, and IoT all contribute to setting up the modern processing environments, thus it is mandatory to keep them simultaneously under control.
- Employs a versatile, bottom-up, horizontal approach to CPS infrastructure and applications
- Utilizes the Stack4Things framework, an evolution of the well-known OpenStack environment, to construct a virtual representation of the systems under exam and manage complex systems of systems, both in the fields of smart cities and industry 4.0
- Considers green aspects as a driving principle in the design and operational phase
- Explores systems construction green principles throughout the whole book
- Follows a practically oriented approach throughout the book, with theory always supported by guided experiments related to smart cities and smart industries as the main application fields
Researchers and professionals involved in designing, controlling and managing complex systems of systems (cities and industries) with strong interaction among the physical (sensing and actuators) and the cyber (edge and cloud), architectural engineers, computer scientists, private and public technology companies, service developers, Policy makers, city managers, and urban planners; Industrial plant managers
Introduction: CPS/IoT/Cloud
Part I: Fundamentals
1. Cyber Physical systems
2. Demystifying OpenStack
3. The Cloud of Things
4. I/Ocloud: a multi-tenant IoT solution
5. Network virtualization in IoT (networking)
6. SOA/microsevices in IoT (containers+DNS)
7. Deviceless
(Serverless at the Edge)
8. Security and decentralization for CPS
9. Heterogeneous computing
Part II: Applications
10. Steps for S4T deployment
11. Practical testbeds (WoT, virtual networking, research infrastructure SLICES RI…)
12. Use cases (smart city, industry 4.0, smart building use cases)
Part I: Fundamentals
1. Cyber Physical systems
2. Demystifying OpenStack
3. The Cloud of Things
4. I/Ocloud: a multi-tenant IoT solution
5. Network virtualization in IoT (networking)
6. SOA/microsevices in IoT (containers+DNS)
7. Deviceless
(Serverless at the Edge)
8. Security and decentralization for CPS
9. Heterogeneous computing
Part II: Applications
10. Steps for S4T deployment
11. Practical testbeds (WoT, virtual networking, research infrastructure SLICES RI…)
12. Use cases (smart city, industry 4.0, smart building use cases)
- Edition: 1
- Latest edition
- Published: August 1, 2026
- Language: English
ZB
Zakaria Benomar
Zakaria Benomar holds a Ph.D. in Cyber-Physical Systems from the University of Messina, Italy. He contributed to the design and development of the Stack4Things middleware. After obtaining his Ph.D., he held a Postdoctoral Researcher position at the National Institute for Research in Digital Science and Technology (Inria), Paris, France. Currently, he is a Senior Research and Development Engineer at Thales cortAIx Labs, Palaiseau, France. His interests include distributed systems, Cloud/Edge computing, networking and IoT.
Affiliations and expertise
Thales cortAIx Labs, Palaiseau, FranceFL
Francesco Longo
Francesco Longo received his Ph.D. in Computer Engineering from the University of Messina, Italy, where he is currently an Associate Professor at the Department of Engineering. He is the author of more than 100 scientific papers in international journals and conferences. His main research interests include analytical modeling and performance evaluation; reliability and availability of distributed systems; Grid and Cloud computing; Internet of Things and Fog/Edge computing and their applications in the context of Smart Cities; blockchain technologies and their use for IoT, Cloud, and Fog/Edge computing. He is one of the co- founders of SmartMe.IO Srl, an academic spinoff of the University of Messina focusing on transforming the advances of scientific research in the IoT field into solutions available on the market. He is a member of the scientific committee of the Horcynus Orca Foundation and of the Messina Evolved Social District.
Affiliations and expertise
Department of Engineering, University of Messina, ItalyGM
Giovanni Merlino
Giovanni Merlino is an associate professor in computer science engineering at the University of Messina, Italy.His research focuses on mobile and distributed systems with particular emphasis on IoT and Cyber-Physical Systems modeled as software-defined infrastructure, especially in terms of hybrid IT/OT convergence and decentralization protocols.
He played a key role in designing the Stack4Things middleware. He is co-founder of SmartMe.io, an academic spin-off and startup company, and co-inventor and holder of a patent. He has authored over 100 peer-reviewed scientific publications.
Affiliations and expertise
Department of Engineering, University of Messina, ItalyAP
Antonio Puliafito
Antonio Puliafito is full professor of Distributed Systems at the University of Messina, Italy. He carries out research on Cloud computing and the Internet of things. He has been responsible for several national and European research projects. He currently directs the CINI national laboratory on "Smart Cities & Communities," which brings together over 400 researchers in computer science and computer engineering from various Italian universities. He is one of the founders of SmartMe.io, an innovative startup focused on Cyber-Physical systems and very active in smart cities and industry 5.0.
Affiliations and expertise
Department of Engineering, University of Messina, Italy