A Tool Integration Language to Formalize Co-simulation Tool-Chains for Cyber-Physical System (CPS)

Co-simulation has grown from point-to-point between simulation tools for specific purposes to complex tool-chains which often require additional functionalities, e.g., process management, data management and tool integration. With these additional functionalities, the related design activities could be controlled and implemented by unified platforms to improve efficiency and effectiveness. Due to increasing complexity and size of co-simulation tool-chains, a systematic approach is needed to formalize their evolution in order to analyze functionalities and evaluate their structures before development. In this paper, we extend a proposed domain specific language, - named Tool Integration Language (TIL) - to describe co-simulation tool-chain architectures on a high abstraction level aiming to promote the efficiency and effectiveness of co-simulation tool-chain development by the use of Model-based System Engineering (MBSE). We introduce how the extended TIL formalizes structures and present two industrial cases of co-simulation tool-chain from previous experiences and describe them using the TIL. Finally, we conclude this paper and introduce future work - a further extension of TIL supporting MBSE tool-chain development.