Abstract
Modern distributed systems are increasingly complex both on their architectural design and on the computational logic that they execute. Their timely operation is challenged, which is critical for some domains such as cyber-physical systems where timeliness and dynamic behavior must be satisfied simultaneously. Providing real-time operation whereas supporting the inherent dynamic behavior of cyber-physical systems requires solutions that are not yet available. A number of challenging scientific and engineering problems that span across a variety of research areas are raised. The new challenges go far beyond those of traditional networked real-time systems; cyber-physical systems are autonomous, open, large-scale, real-time, embedded, and control systems that make intensive use of networks, distribution, and wireless technology. Such complex systems have different [sub]parts/systems with different levels of real-time requirements.

Abstract
This paper presents a framework for management of flexible energy loads in the context of the Internet of Things and the Smart Grid. The framework takes place in the European project Arrowhead, and aims at taking advantage of the flexibility (in time and power) of energy production and consumption offered by sets of devices, appliances or buildings, to help at solving the issue of fluctuating energy production of renewable energies. The underlying concepts are explained, the actors involved in the framework, their incentives and interactions are detailed, and a technical overview is provided. An implementation of the framework is presented, as well as the expected results of the pilots.

Abstract
Nowadays, collecting complex information regarding a machine status is the enabler for advanced maintenance activities, and one of the main players in this process is the sensor. This paper describes modern maintenance strategies that lead to Proactive Maintenance (PM), which is the most advanced one. The paper discusses the sensors that can be used to support maintenance, as pertaining to different categories, spanning from common off-The-shelf sensors, to specialized sensors monitoring very specific characteristics, and to virtual sensors. The paper proceeds then to detail three different real world examples of project pilots that make use of the described sensors, and draws a comparison between them. In particular, each scenario has got unique characteristics and prefers different families of sensors, but on the other hand provides similar characteristics on other aspects. In fact, the paper concludes with a discussion regarding how each scenario can benefit from PM and from advanced sensing. © 2018 IEEE.

Abstract
Quality of Service (QoS) is an important enabler for communication in industrial environments. The Arrowhead Framework was created to support local cloud functionalities for automation applications by means of a Service Oriented Architecture. To this aim, the framework offers a number of services that ease application development, among them the QoSSetup and the Monitor services, the first used to verify and configure QoS in the local cloud, and the second for online monitoring of QoS. This paper describes how the QoSSetup and Monitor services are provided in a Arrowhead-compliant System of Systems, detailing both the principles and algorithms employed, and how the services are implemented. Experimental results are provided, from a demonstrator built over a real-time Ethernet network. © 2017 IEEE.

Abstract
The application of the Internet of Things to manufacturing is the driving force of the new industrial revolution (Industrie 4.0). In fact, most activities in the manufacturing industry can benefit from the data collected in the context of the industrial process. The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), whose pillars are the usage of IP communication between the devices and making the devices accessible through the Internet, can maximize the benefits of the information by the integration between multiple data sources, and by the ubiquitous fruition of the information itself. It is common belief that IIoT will transform companies and countries, opening up a new era of economic growth and competitiveness, since it has great potential for improving quality control, sustainable and green practices, supply chain traceability, and maintenance of the user in the loop. Anyway, a number of challenges arise in this context, related for example to adaptability and scalability, real-time communication and QoS, and system deployment and management. A communication middleware can support the IIoT vision by coping with these issues. This talk introduces the IIoT, discusses its benefits and challenges, and presents communication middleware developed in different sub-areas of IIoT (service-oriented industrial informatics [1], smart grids [2], maintenance of industrial machines [3]) that enable the IIoT vision.

Abstract
Distributed real-time systems such as automotive applications are becoming larger and more complex, thus, requiring the use of more powerful hardware and software architectures. Furthermore, those distributed applications commonly have stringent real-time constraints. This implies that such applications would gain in flexibility if they were parallelized and distributed over the system. In this paper, we consider the problem of allocating fixed-priority fork-join Parallel/Distributed real-time tasks onto distributed multi-core nodes connected through a Flexible Time Triggered Switched Ethernet network. We analyze the system requirements and present a set of formulations based on a constraint programming approach. Constraint programming allows us to express the relations between variables in the form of constraints. Our approach is guaranteed to find a feasible solution, if one exists, in contrast to other approaches based on heuristics. Furthermore, approaches based on constraint programming have shown to obtain solutions for these type of formulations in reasonable time.