Data, Information, and Time

Hermann Kopetz received his PhD in physics "sub auspiciis praesidentis" from the University of Vienna, Austria in 1968. After eight years in Industry he accepted in 1978 an appointment as a Professor for Computer Process Control at the Technical University of West-Berlin, moving to the Technical University of Vienna in 1992. Kopetz is a full member of the Austrian Academy of Science, Fellow of the IEEE, and was a member of the Information Society Advisory Group (ISTAG), advising the European Commission in Brussels in the domain of information technology from 2008 to 2012.  In June 2007 he received the honorary degree of Dr. honoris causa from the University Paul Sabatier in Toulouse, France. Kopetz is the chief architect of the time-triggered technology for dependable embedded Systems and a co-founder of the company TTTech. He is the author of Real-Time Systems: Design Principles for Distributed Embedded Applications (Springer) and several other books.

• 1. Introduction.- 2. Overview of the DIT Model.- 3. Fundamental Terms.- 4. Context.- 5. Language and Information.- 6. Data in Communication.- 7. Data  in Archival Systems.- 8. Data in Real-Time Control Systems.- 9. Data in Biological Systems.- 10. Generation and Explanation of Data.- 11. Consequences for System Design.- 12. Conclusions.