What would it cost to adopt these design tools?+
Most CERBERO components (DynAA, AOW, PREESM, PAPI-ARTICo3, MDC) are released as open-source, meaning no licensing fees for the core tools. Integration and customization costs would depend on your system complexity. The project itself received EUR 4,996,460 in EU funding across 12 partners over 3 years.
Can these tools handle industrial-scale product development?+
The tools were demonstrated on three full-scale industrial use cases: electric vehicle systems (with TNO and CRF/Fiat), ocean monitoring platforms, and space exploration systems. The consortium included 5 industrial partners (42% industry ratio), indicating the tools were built for real engineering workflows, not just academic exercises.
What is the IP and licensing situation?+
The project committed to releasing most components as open-source to foster open innovation and standardisation. Individual enhanced features (like security modules) may have separate IP arrangements through the consortium's 12 partners across 7 countries. Contact the coordinator for specific licensing terms.
How much faster is the design process really?+
The project objective states a target of one order of magnitude speed-up in design time — roughly 10x faster. This comes from automated multi-objective optimization that replaces manual trade-off analysis across energy, reliability, and security requirements. The continuous design environment enables early-stage analysis rather than costly late-stage fixes.
How does this integrate with our existing design tools?+
CERBERO was built as interoperable components: DynAA (TNO), AOW (IBM), PREESM (INSA), PAPI-ARTICo3 (UPM), and MDC (UniCA-UniSS), integrated by IBM into a unified environment. The open-source approach and push toward standardisation suggest it can connect with existing EDA and model-based design workflows.
Does this handle cybersecurity requirements?+
Yes — security is explicitly included as a non-functional requirement in the design environment, alongside energy and reliability. The project added security features (contributed by USI) to the existing tool components. This means security is checked at design time, not bolted on afterward.
Is this only for Cyber Physical Systems or can it be used more broadly?+
The core approach — multi-objective optimization across cross-layer models — applies to any complex embedded system where you need to balance competing requirements like power, performance, and reliability. The three demonstrators (automotive, maritime, space) show breadth across very different domains.
