Guest Editorial: Special issue on formal modeling and analysis of timed systems

Ubiquitous and autonomic computing highlighted once more the importance of modeling, design, and verification of systems that take into account the temporal dynamics of their physical environment, such as embedded and cyber-physical systems, including home appliances, autonomous vehicles, and medical devices. % The international conference on Formal Modeling and Analysis of Timed Systems~(FORMATS) brings together researchers from different disciplines to promote the study of fundamental and practical aspects of systems governed by combinations of logical and temporal constraints. In 2015, the 13th edition of FORMATS was held in Madrid, Spain, where an interesting and diverse program was presented, with topics ranging from the theoretical foundations of timed systems and languages, to algorithms and software tools for their analysis, and applications of these methods to problems where time plays a crucial role, such as cyber security, scheduling, and power management. % Selected papers were invited to submit extended journal versions for this special issue of the Real-Time Systems Journal. % The goal of this issue is to present a sample of methods and approaches for the analysis of timed systems from the research community of FORMATS. All works were rigorously reviewed by experts from the areas of real-time systems and formal verification.