A learning-based synthesis approach todecentralized supervisory control of discrete event systems with unknown plants

In this paper, we consider the problem of automatic synthesis of decentralized supervisor for uncertain discrete event systems. In particular, we study the case when the uncontrolled plant is unknown a priori. To deal with the unknown plants, we first characterize the conormality of prefix-closed regular languages and propose formulas for computing the supremal conormal sublanguages; then sufficient conditions for the existence of decentralized supervisors are given in terms of language controllability and conormality and a learning-based algorithm to synthesize the supervisor automatically is proposed. Moreover, the paper also studies the on-line decentralized supervisory control of concurrent discrete event systems that are composed of multiple interacting unknown modules. We use the concept of modular controllability to characterize the necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of the local supervisors, which consist of a set of local supervisor modules, one for each plant module and which determines its control actions based on the locally observed behaviors, and an on-line learning-based local synthesis algorithm is also presented. The correctness and convergence of the proposed algorithms are proved, and their implementation are illustrated through examples.     

Predictability of event occurrences in partially-observed discrete-event systems

This paper studies the problem of predicting occurrences of a significant event in a partially-observed discrete-event system. The predictability of occurrences of an event in a system is defined in the context of formal languages. The predictability of a language is a stronger condition than the diagnosability of the language. Two necessary and sufficient conditions for predictability of occurrences of an event in systems modeled by regular languages are presented. Both conditions can be algorithmically tested. The first condition employs diagnosers. The second condition employs verifiers and results in a polynomial-time (in the number of states) complexity test for verification of predictability. When predictability holds, diagnosers can be used online to predict the significant event.     

Decentralized fault diagnosis approach without a global model for fault diagnosis of discrete event systems

Diagnosability property ensures that a predefined set of faults are diagnosable by a centralized diagnoser built using a global model of the system, while co-diagnosability guarantees that these faults are diagnosed in decentralized manner using a set of local diagnosers. A fault must be diagnosed by at least one local diagnoser by using its proper local observation of the system. The aim of using decentralized diagnosis approaches is to overcome the space complexity and weak robustness of centralized diagnosis approaches while at the same time preserving the diagnostic capability of a centralized diagnosis. However, co-diagnosability property is stronger than diagnosability property. If a system is co-diagnosable, then it is diagnosable, while a diagnosable system does not ensure that it is co-diagnosable. Therefore, the challenge of decentralized diagnosis approaches is to perform local diagnosis and to verify that it is equivalent to the centralized one without the need for a global model. In this paper, an approach is proposed to obtain co-diagnosable decentralized diagnosis structure of discrete event systems without the use of a global model. This approach is based on the synchronization of local diagnosis decisions in order to solve the ambiguity between local diagnosers. This synchronization allows obtaining local diagnosis equivalent to the global one without the use of a global model.     

Reliable supervisory control for general architecture of decentralized discrete event systems

In this paper, we investigate the reliable decentralized supervisory control of discrete event systems (DESs) under the general architecture, where the decision for controllable events is a combination of the conjunctive and disjunctive fusion rules. By reliable control, we mean that the performance of closed-loop systems will not be degraded even in the face of possible failures of some local supervisors. The main contributions are twofold. First, a necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of a k-reliable decentralized supervisor under the general architecture is presented after introducing notions of -controllability and k-reliable -coobservability. Second, a polynomial-time algorithm to verify the reliable -coobservability of a specification is proposed.     

Decentralized control of networked discrete event systems with communication delays

In many practical systems, supervisory control is not performed by one centralized supervisor, but by multiple local supervisors. When communication networks are used in such a system as the medium of information transmission, the communication channels between local supervisors and the system to be controlled will unavoidably result in communication delays. This paper investigates how to use these local supervisors to control the system in order to satisfy given specifications even under communication delays. The specifications are described by two languages: a minimal required language which specifies the minimal required performance that the supervised system must have and a maximal admissible language which specifies the maximal boundary that the supervised system must be in. The results show that if the control problem is solvable, then there exists the minimal control policy which can be calculated based on state estimates. Furthermore, we derive algorithms to check whether the control problem is solvable or not.     

分布式随机离散事件系统的模式故障预测EI北大核心CSCD

本文以随机自动机为模型,研究分布式随机离散事件系统的模式故障预测问题.首先根据分布式随机离散事件系统的分布特性对模式故障协同可预测性概念进行形式化,并通过构造模式故障识别器来识别系统中发生的模式故障.然后,构造一个模式故障协同预测器,提出一种基于协同预测器的具有多项式复杂度的算法,得到关于分布式随机离散事件系统模式故障协同可预测性的充分必要条件,实现对分布式随机离散事件系统的模式故障预测.     

Delay-coobservability and its algebraic properties for the decentralized supervisory control of discrete event systems with communication delays

In networked control systems, uncontrollable events may unexpectedly occur at a plant before a proper control command is applied to it due to communication delays. In this paper, we address the problem of decentralized supervisory control under such communication delays based on the C&P (conjunctive and permissive) and D&A (disjunctive and antipermissive) decision architecture. In particular, for the existence of a decentralized supervisor, we present the notion of delay-coobservability of a given language specification and a polynomial-time algorithm for verifying it. In addition, algebraic properties of the delay-coobservability are investigated. We further present a synthesis method of the decentralized supervisor for practical usefulness.     

The concept of residuals for fault localization in discrete event systems

In this paper an approach for fault localization in closed-loop Discrete Event Systems is proposed. The presented diagnosis method allows fault localization using a fault-free system model to describe the expected system behavior. Via a systematic comparison of the observed and the expected behavior, a fault can be detected and a set of fault candidates is determined. Inspired by residuals known from diagnosis in continuous systems, different set operations are introduced to generate the fault candidate set. After fault detection and a first fault localization, a procedure is given to render the fault localization more precisely by an analysis of the further observed system behavior. Special emphasis is given to the use of identified models for the fault-free system behavior. The approach is explained using a laboratory manufacturing facility.     

Decentralized supervisory control of discrete event systems with communication delays based on conjunctive and permissive decision structures

In many practical discrete event systems (DESs), some unexpected and uncontrollable events can subsequently occur before a proper control action is actually applied to a plant due to communication delays. For such DESs, this paper investigates necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of a nonblocking decentralized supervisor that can correctly achieve a given language specification when the decentralized supervisor is assumed to have a conjunctive and permissive decision structure. In particular, this paper presents a notion of delay-coobservability for a given language specification and shows that it is a key condition for the existence of such a decentralized supervisor.     

模型未知的离散事件系统故障诊断方法

针对离散事件系统模型难以建立的大型实际系统,无法对其进行有效故障诊断的问题,提出一种基于主动学习的故障诊断方法。首先,为获取到的系统事件日志添加正常/故障标签,并将日志集划分为训练集和测试集,提出一种基于抽象技术的迭代算法提取训练集中日志的故障特征样本。然后,通过故障特征样本构造初始故障识别器,并利用测试集中的日志检验识别器的准确性。仿真结果表明,该故障诊断算法使得模型未知下诊断精度更高。最后,实例说明系统模型未知下故障诊断算法的应用。与现有研究相比,提出的方法可以在系统模型未知下进行故障诊断且算法复杂度为多项式,诊断精度更高,应用范围更加广泛。     

Active fault tolerant control of discrete event systems using online diagnostics

The aim of this paper is to deal with the problem of fault tolerant control in the framework of discrete event systems modeled as automata. A fault tolerant controller is a controller able to satisfy control specifications both in nominal operation and after the occurrence of a fault. This task is solved by means of a parameterized controller that is suitably updated on the basis of the information provided by online diagnostics: the supervisor actively reacts to the detection of a malfunctioning component in order to eventually meet degraded control specifications. Starting from an appropriate model of the system, we recall the notion of safe diagnosability as a necessary step in order to achieve fault tolerant control. We then introduce two new notions: (i) “safe controllability”, which represents the capability, after the occurrence of a fault, of steering the system away from forbidden zones and (ii) “active fault tolerant system”, which is the property of safely continuing operation after faults. Finally, we show how the problem can be solved using a general control architecture based on the use of special kind of diagnoser, called “diagnosing controller”, which is used to safely detect faults and to switch between the nominal control policy and a bank of reconfigured control policies. A simple example is used to illustrate the new notions and the control architecture introduced in the paper.     

Non‐blocking decentralized control of discrete event systems based on Petri nets

The non‐blocking property of discrete event systems can formulate many practical and important properties of manufacturing systems, such as deadlock freeness, liveness and reversibility. But it is difficult to guarantee non‐blocking control. This paper presents a hybrid approach to decentralized control of discrete event systems. More generalized constraints are considered in this approach, which gives a graphical way of designing coordinators to keep the non‐blocking property of the closed‐loop system with decentralized supervisors. This approach also guarantees that the closed‐loop system is maximally permissive. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley and Sons Asia Pte Ltd and Chinese Automatic Control Society     

Diagnosability of fuzzy discrete event systems

In this paper, discrete event systems (DESs) are reformulated as fuzzy discrete event systems (FDESs) and fuzzy discrete event dynamical systems (FDEDSs). These frameworks include fuzzy states, events and IF-THEN rules. In these frameworks, all events occur at the same time with different membership degrees. Fuzzy states and events have been introduced to describe uncertainties that occur often in practical problems, such as fault diagnosis applications. To measure a diagnoser’s fault discrimination ability, a fuzzy diagnosability degree is proposed. If the diagnosability of the degree of the system yields one a diagnoser can be implemented to identify all possible fault types related to a system. For any degree less than one, researchers should not devote their time to distinguish all possible fault types correctly. Thus, two different diagnosability definitions FDEDS and FDES are introduced. Due to the specialized fuzzy rule-base embedded in the FDEDS, it is capable of representing a class of non-linear dynamic system. Computationally speaking, the framework of diagnosability of the FDEDS is structurally similar to the framework of diagnosability of a non-linear system. The crisp DES diagnosability has been turned into the term fuzzy diagnosability for the FDES. The newly proposed diagnosability definition allows us to define a degree of diagnosability in a class of non-linear systems. In addition, a simple fuzzy diagnosability checking method is introduced and some numerical examples are provided to illustrate this theoretical development. Finally, the potential applications of the proposed method are discussed.     

Diagnosability of fair discrete event systems

Failure diagnosability has been widely studied using discrete event system (DES) models. It is, however, shown in this work by means of a counterexample that the diagnosability condition, which has been shown to be necessary and sufficient in the DES context, fails to hold for many real‐world hybrid systems. This is because the abstraction employed in formulating the DES models obliterates the continuous dynamics. In the present work, a new failure diagnosability mechanism has been developed for discrete time hybrid system (DTHS) models to alleviate this problem. A new diagnosability condition is proposed and its necessity and sufficiency with respect to the diagnosability definition are established formally. Finally, the method of A‐diagnosability, which can also be used to circumvent this problem and which needs additional probabilistic information for diagnosability analysis, has been shown to have a higher computational complexity than the DTHS model based method proposed in this paper. Further, it is also highlighted that the DTHS model based diagnosability analysis technique is capable of diagnosing faults that degrade the temporal performance of the system, which cannot be handled by the A‐diagnosability analysis mechanism. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley and Sons Asia Pte Ltd and Chinese Automatic Control Society     

A template-based data specification framework for modeling physical security systems

Simulation studies often fail to provide any useful result due to its success being highly dependent on the skills of the analyst to understand a system and then correctly identify all the required data parameters and dependent variables. This paper describes a template-based framework to help identify and specify the components and data parameters for developing models of physical security systems. The layered framework consists of 15 templates built on top of 14 data primitives representing 119 data parameters. The modeling framework has been programmed as an internet-based web application and is simulation language-independent. The usefulness of the framework was tested and shown to have a significant impact on improving the identification of system components and their associated data parameters.     

A modified normality condition for decentralized supervisory control of discrete event systems

In this paper, we study nonblocking decentralized supervisory control of discrete event systems. We introduce a modified normality condition defined in terms of a modified natural projection map. The modified normality condition is weaker than the original one and stronger than the co-observability condition. Moreover, it is preserved under union. Given a marked language specification, there exists a nonblocking decentralized supervisor for the supremal sublanguage which satisfies L_m(G)-closure, controllability, and modified normality. Such a decentralized supervisor is more permissive than the one which achieves the supremal L_m(G)-closed, controllable, and normal sublanguage.     

Formal approach to fault diagnosis in distributed discrete event systems with OBDD

In this paper, we study the fault diagnosis problem for distributed discrete event systems. The model assumes that the system is composed of distributed components which are modeled in labeled Petri nets and interact with each other via sets of common resources (places). Further, a component’s own access to a common resource is an observable event. Based on the diagnoser approach proposed by Sampath et al., a distributed fault diagnosis algorithm with communication is presented. The distributed algorithm assumes that the local diagnosis process can exchange messages upon the occurrence of observable events. We prove the distributed diagnosis algorithm is correct in the sense that it recovers the same diagnostic information as the centralized diagnosis algorithm. Furthermore, we introduce the ordered binary decision diagrams (OBDD) in order to manage the state explosion problem in state estimation of the system.     

Modeling discrete event scalable network systems

Scalability in simulation tools is one of the most important traits to measure performance of software. The reason is that today’s Internet is the main instance of a large-scale and highly complex system. Simulation of Internet-scale network systems has to be supported by any simulation tool. Despite this fact, many network simulators lacks support for building large models. In this work, in order to propose a new approach for scalability issue in network simulation tools, a network simulator is developed based on behavior of honeybees and high performance DEVS, modular and hierarchical system theoretic approach. A biologically-inspired discrete event modeling approach is described for studying networks’ scalability and performance traits. Since natural systems can offer important concepts for modeling network systems, key adaptive and emergent attributes of honeybees and their societal properties are incorporated into a set of simulation models that are developed using the discrete event system specification approach. Large-scale network models are simulated and evaluated to show the benefits of nature-inspired network models.     

基于动态观测的随机离散事件系统故障诊断

近年来,离散事件系统故障诊断研究引起国内外学者广泛关注.鉴于此,研究动态观测下随机离散事件系统的故障诊断.首先引入一种动态观测,使事件的可观测性随着系统的运行而动态变化;然后分别对基于动态观测的随机离散事件系统的单故障可诊断性和模式故障可诊断性进行形式化;最后通过构造相应的诊断器,分别得到关于单故障可诊断性和模式故障可...     

Strong fault prognosability of partially-observed discrete event systems

<正>Dear editor, As an important model to analyze cyber-physical systems,the study of discrete event systems has always been prevailing [1–4]. Especially, the problem of fault prognosis becomes a crucial subject for its applications in security and maintenance [5]. In decentralized fault prognosis, the given system can be monitored by several agents and each agent sends its local observation to the global prognoser,