Guest Editorial

Our physical living environment, from residential homes to commercial buildings and civil infrastructures, is becoming more and more intelligent, thanks to the rapid advancement of various cyber-technologies. Examples include smart sensors and actuators, sophisticated control and communication algorithms, and efficient and reliable communication protocols. By integrating these technologies, smart homes, buildings and infrastructures can be built to improve service quality and reliability and to reduce energy and monetary costs. However, the design, implementation and operation of these cyber-physical systems still face significant challenges that arise from the rapid increase of functional complexity, the significant uncertainty from physical environment and human activities, the increasing deployment of distributed and networked architecture, and the stringent requirements on system performance, safety, security, flexibility, reliability and fault tolerance. This special issue aims to present the state-of-the-art cyber-physical systems research for building efficient smart homes, buildings, and infrastructures. In response to this special issue topic, we received 17 submissions covering a broad range of topics including smart grid, wireless network, real-time system, smart building, internet of things, electric vehicle, healthcare, and so on. These articles were contributed by researchers from both academia as well as industry. After the review process, the following six articles were accepted for publication: