Somers, Richard J. orcid.org/0000-0002-1101-9722, Douthwaite, James A., Wagg, David J. et al. (2 more authors) (2023) Digital-twin-based testing for cyber–physical systems: a systematic literature review. Information and Software Technology, 156. 107145. ISSN 0950-5849
Abstract
Context: Cyber–physical systems present a challenge to testers, bringing complexity and scale to safety-critical and collaborative environments. Digital twins enhance these systems through data-driven and simulation based models coupled to physical systems to provide visualisation, predict future states and communication. Due to the coupling between digital and physical worlds, digital twins provide a new perspective into cyber–physical system testing.
Objective: The objectives of this study are to summarise the existing literature on digital-twin-based testing. We aim to uncover emerging areas of adoptions, the testing techniques used in these areas and identify future research areas.
Method: We conducted a systematic literature review which answered the following research questions: What cyber–physical systems are digital twins currently being used to test? How are test oracles defined for cyber–physical systems? What is the distribution of white-box, black-box and grey-box modelling techniques used for digital twins in the context of testing? How are test cases defined and how does this affect test inputs?
Results: We uncovered 26 relevant studies from 480 produced by searching with a curated search query. These studies showed an adoption of digital-twin-based testing following the introduction of digital twins in industry as well as the increasing accessibility of the technology. The oracles used in testing are the digital twin themselves and therefore rely on both system specification and data derivation. Cyber–physical systems are tested through passive testing techniques, as opposed to either active testing through test cases or predictive testing using digital twin prediction.
Conclusions: This review uncovers the existing areas in which digital twins are used to test cyber–physical systems as well as outlining future research areas in the field. We outline how the infancy of digital twins has affected their wide variety of definitions, emerging specialised testing and modelling techniques as well as the current lack of predictive ability.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2022 The Authors. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Keywords: | Digital twin; Cyber–physical system; Testing; Systematic literature review |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Engineering (Sheffield) > Department of Computer Science (Sheffield) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number ENGINEERING AND PHYSICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH COUNCIL EP/R006768/1 ENGINEERING AND PHYSICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH COUNCIL EP/R025134/2 ENGINEERING AND PHYSICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH COUNCIL EP/T030526/1 Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council EP/V026801/2 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 04 Jan 2023 09:32 |
Last Modified: | 04 Jan 2023 09:32 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.infsof.2022.107145 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier BV |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.infsof.2022.107145 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:194777 |