As SoftCPS targets cyber-physical systems, the research topics of the laboratory are transversal to a large set of application domains. Nevertheless, the laboratory activities are more focused on a few relevant application domains:

Telecom

The work focuses on improving IoT interoperability and resource management in constrained environments. Ensuring seamless communication among diverse devices requires standardized protocols and adaptive middleware that optimize energy and bandwidth use. At the same time, AI and edge data processing bring intelligence closer to devices, reducing latency and enabling real-time analytics. This decentralization enhances efficiency, scalability, and privacy, supporting advanced applications such as smart cities and industrial automation.

Aerospace and Defense

Focus is on real-time software and communication systems that ensure reliability, low latency, and resilience in mission-critical operations. These systems enable rapid data exchange and precise control in environments where timing and security are paramount. In parallel, AI applications at the edge are advancing capabilities such as autonomous decision-making, threat detection, and predictive maintenance. By processing data locally, these edge-AI solutions reduce dependence on centralized systems, enhance responsiveness, and strengthen operational autonomy in dynamic and high-risk scenarios.

Manufacturing

Smart manufacturing, although a broad concept, can be defined as real-time workflow application system in which all information is available when and where it is needed for optimizing the entire manufacturing process, from reactive to predictive approaches, and thus increasing its efficiency and efficacy. The development of such smart manufacturing environment depends on high performance middleware and IoT/Edge capabilities in an industrial context and demands a better integration between IoT/Edge and middleware software technologies.

Cities and Communities

The work on software architecture provides an essential step towards the management of smart cities and communities, allowing to increase quality of life, whilst providing energy-efficient, circular societies, by enhancing the existent (or being deployed) IoT/Fog infrastructure with distributed monitoring capabilities, as well as management of heterogeneous workflows in the edge-cloud compute continuum.

Mobility

Mobility, in particular in the automotive and railway industries, is increasingly dependent on smart systems being fully-connected, supporting both advanced driver assistance systems, which includes services such as navigation, remote diagnostics, and collision warning, and autonomous driving, which includes services such as automatic parking and autopilot. The software technologies are required to support stringent quality of service requirements at the edge, whilst still being able to provide cloud-supported advanced functionalities. 

Health

Healthcare applications are becoming increasingly connected; in particular, the recent trend of telehealth, connecting IoT devices with the healthcare existent infrastructures, makes a challenge in the interoperability, reliability and privacy of data, and puts an increasing computation effort in the resource-constrained devices used. This needs to be addressed both with appropriate resource management approaches, as well as interoperability and data processing at the edge.