Architectural Evolution of Monitor and Control Systems - Issues and Challenges

Large-scale Complex Critical Infrastructures (LCCIs), such as power grids and transport infrastructures (e.g., network of airports and seaports), play a key role into several fundamental human activities, and represent the next generation of Monitor and Control Systems. They make extensive usage of Information and Communications Technology (e.g., computing systems, communication networks, and sensing hardware) for providing support for advanced monitoring and control facilities. However, solutions currently adopted in the field exhibit several inefficiencies when applied to LCCI. On the contrary, Distributed Event Based Systems (DEBS) seem promising solutions due to their intrinsic decoupling properties that enforce strong scalability degrees. However, they also present some open issues when dealing with the challenges imposed by LCCIs. This paper provides an introduction on LCCIs, a presentation of their challenges, and an analysis on the adoption of DEBS for LCCIs.