Lose Fat, Not Muscle: An Examination of Supervisor Reduction in Discrete-Event Systems

This paper is concerned with the elimination of unnecessary states in discrete-event system control agents. Several approaches to supervisor reduction are studied and a new relation between agents, comparability, is defined to encapsulate most of the concepts found in the aforementioned methods. This relation is also proven to be preserved under conjunction, which is commonly employed to determine the centralized representation of two decentralized DES supervisors.

Near-Optimal Online Control of Dynamic Discrete-Event Systems

A class of time-varying discrete-event systems, named dynamic discrete-event systems, is defined. The goal of this paper is to provide a method which is modular and can be applied in real solutions for the optimization of the online control of such systems. First, a simple control algorithm is presented, followed by illustrative examples of different issues that can arise if it is used. Afterward, a more complicated near-optimal online control algorithm with normalization of string values is proposed. The time variability of the systems is accounted for and the average computational time is drastically reduced. This is demonstrated with a set of simulations of the performance of the new algorithm.     

Invertibility of switched linear systems

We address the invertibility problem for switched systems, which is the problem of recovering the switching signal and the input uniquely given an output and an initial state. In the context of hybrid systems, this corresponds to recovering the discrete state and the input from partial measurements of the continuous state. In solving the invertibility problem, we introduce the concept of singular pairs for two systems. We give a necessary and sufficient condition for a switched system to be invertible, which says that the individual subsystems should be invertible and there should be no singular pairs. When the individual subsystems are invertible, we present an algorithm for finding switching signals and inputs that generate a given output in a finite interval when there is a finite number of such switching signals and inputs. Detailed examples are included.     

Event Counting of Partially-Observed Discrete-Event Systems with Uniformly and Nonuniformly Bounded Diagnosis Delays

We present an approach dealing with repeated fault events in the framework of model-based monitoring of discrete-event systems (DES). Various notions of diagnosability reported in the literature deal with uniformly bounded finite detection of counting delays over all faulty behaviors (uniform delays for brevity). The situation where the diagnosability notion of interest fails to hold under a given observation configuration leads typically to the deployment of more observational devices (e.g., sensors), which may be costly or infeasible. As an alternative to the additional deployment of observational devices, one might want to relax the uniformity of delays, while delays remain finite. To this end, we introduce a notion of diagnosability characterized with nonuniformly bounded finite counting delays (nonuniform counting delays for brevity), where finite delay bounds can vary on faulty behaviors. To evaluate the introduced notion of diagnosability with nonuniform counting delays, a polynomial-time verification algorithm is developed. Notably, the developed verification technique can readily be modified to construct a computationally superior verification algorithm for diagnosability under uniformly bounded finite counting delays (uniform counting delays for brevity) as compared to an algorithm previously reported in the literature. We also develop a novel on-line event counting algorithm that improves the time and space complexities of the currently available algorithms for the counting of special events.

离散事件动态系统的输出反馈与周期配置

对一类用极大代数描述的离散事件动态系统,本文得到了能用输出反馈任意配置其周期的充分必要条件.证明了一个系统如果能用输出反馈任意配置周期,那么它是能达能观的.     

Invertibility of affine nonlinear control systems: a geometric approach

The paper deals with the invertibility of multivariable non-linear control systems. By using the recently developed theory on controlled invariant and controllability distributions necessary and sufficient conditions for invertibility are derived.     

Comparative analysis of related notions of robust diagnosability of Discrete-Event Systems

In this paper, we revisit the problem of robust diagnosability of Discrete-Event Systems (DES), and present a comparative analysis between the following notions of robust diagnosability existing in the literature: (i) diagnosability of DES subject to permanent sensor failures, assuming that sensors may fail only before the first occurrence of the events they are supposed to record; (ii) diagnosability of DES subject to permanent sensor failures, assuming that sensors may fail at any time; (iii) diagnosability of DES against intermittent loss of observations; (iv) diagnosability of partially observed DES; (v) generalized robust diagnosability. We show that all of the robust diagnosability definitions are particular cases of the generalized robust diagnosability by presenting transformation mechanisms for each one of the analyzed robust diagnosability notions so as to convert it into an equivalent generalized robust diagnosability problem. We also compare the use of projections and masks in the context of language diagnosability and show that there is no loss of generality in using projections in place of masks by presenting a map that transforms the language diagnosability problem with observation mask into an equivalent one with projection.     

非线性广义系统的右可逆性

研究了广义非线性系统的右可逆性,给出构造性的求逆算法以克服以往结果中需求解非线性方程组的困难,从而使得求逆算法对任意足够光滑的非线性广义系统皆为可行.     

广义系统的可逆性

本文提出了"L-微分逆"和"固有微分"的概念,给出了广义系统可逆性的充要条件判据和逆系统的构造方法,并讨论了有关的性质.     

不确定观测下离散事件系统的可诊断性

从系统诊断的角度来看,可诊断性是离散事件系统的一个重要性质.其要求系统发生故障后经过有限步的观测可以检测并隔离故障.为简单起见,对离散事件系统可诊断性的研究大都假定观测是确定的,即观测到的事件序列与系统实际发生的可观测事件序列一致.而在实际应用中,由于感知器的精度、信息传输通道的噪声等原因,获取的观测往往是不确定的.本文重点研究观测不确定条件下离散事件系统的可诊断性问题.首先,扩展了传统可诊断性的定义,定义了观测不确定条件下的可诊断性.接着,分别给出各类观测不确定条件下的可诊断性判定方法.而在更一般的情况下,各类观测不确定可能共同存在.因此,最后给出一般情况下的可诊断性判定方法.     

Multitasking Supervisory Control of Discrete-Event Systems

This paper presents an approach for functionally dealing with multiple tasks in the supervisory control of discrete-event systems (DES). The colored marking generator (CMG), a special type of Moore automaton, is introduced as a model that distinguishes classes of tasks in DES. The main results of supervisory control theory are extended to this model, allowing the synthesis of minimally restrictive supervisors, which respect the safety specifications and ensure coreachability of multiple control objectives. Reversibility is also investigated as an alternative way of ensuring liveness of multiple tasks. Two examples illustrate the convenience of this approach.     

Modular Control and Coordination of Discrete-Event Systems

In the supervisory control of discrete-event systems based on controllable languages, a standard way to handle state explosion in large systems is by modular supervision: either horizontal (decentralized) or vertical (hierarchical). However, unless all the relevant languages are prefix-closed, a well-known potential hazard with modularity is that of conflict. In decentralized control, modular supervisors that are individually nonblocking for the plant may nevertheless produce blocking, or even deadlock, when operating on-line concurrently. Similarly, a high-level hierarchical supervisor that predicts nonblocking at its aggregated level of abstraction may inadvertently admit blocking in a low-level implementation. In two previous papers, the authors showed that nonblocking hierarchical control can be guaranteed provided high-level aggregation is sufficiently fine; the appropriate conditions were formalized in terms of control structures and observers. In this paper we apply the same technique to decentralized control, when specifications are imposed on local models of the global process; in this way we remove the restriction in some earlier work that the plant and specification (marked) languages be prefix-closed. We then solve a more general problem of coordination: namely how to determine a high level coordinator that forestalls conflict in a decentralized architecture when it potentially arises, but is otherwise minimally intrusive on low-level control action. Coordination thus combines both vertical and horizontal modularity. The example of a simple production process is provided as a practical illustration. We conclude with an appraisal of the computational effort involved.     

On the Computation of Observers in Discrete-Event Systems

The concept of observer was introduced in previous work by the authors on a hierarchical control theory of discrete-event systems (DES). It was shown that the observer property of the “causal reporter” map, which in this theory models information flow in a hierarchical DES, plays a role in ensuring that a nonblocking supervisor at a given level of a hierarchy does not cause blocking in the level below. In this paper, we investigate the following problem: Given a causal reporter map that is not an observer, how can we design an observer by modifying this map? In case the latter is represented by a finite Mealy automaton, an effective computational algorithm is developed for computing an observer with the coarsest possible equivalence kernel that is finer than that of the given map. Three examples are provided for illustration.     

An algorithm for calculating indistinguishable states and clusters in finite-state automata with partially observable transitions

This paper presents a new algorithm for efficiently calculating pairs of indistinguishable states in finite-state automata with partially observable transitions. The need to obtain pairs of indistinguishable states occurs in several classes of problems related to control under partial observation, diagnosis, or distributed control with communication for discrete event systems. The algorithm obtains all indistinguishable state pairs in polynomial time in the number of states and events in the system. Another feature of the algorithm is the grouping of states into clusters and the identification of indistinguishable cluster pairs. Clusters can be employed to solve control problems for partially observed systems.     

对称系统可逆性的简化条件

给出对称系统可逆性的一个充要条件.用这个条件检验对称系统的可逆性,可不必计算包含在输出核中的最大能控性子分布,而只需计算较为简单的最大对称性子分布.     

Hierarchical Fault Diagnosis for Discrete-Event Systems under Global Consistency

In previous work the authors proposed a distributed diagnosis approach consisting of two phases—preliminary diagnosis in each local diagnoser and inter-diagnoser communication. The objective of communication is to achieve either global or local consistency among local diagnoses, where global consistency is captured by the equilibrium concept of supremal global support. To achieve this equilibrium, an algorithm called Computational Procedure for Global Consistency (CPGC) was proposed. But it turns out that CPGC has high time complexity and weak scalability. To rectify these shortcomings, we propose a hierarchical computational procedure. A further advantage of this procedure is demonstrated, based on multiresolutional diagnosis. With the latter, fault detection is conducted at each hierarchical level, so that computation can be confined to those modules likely to possess faults, while fault-free modules are safely disregarded. A simplified industrial example is provided in illustration.     

Threshold-Based Dynamic Replication in Large-Scale Video-on-Demand Systems

Recent advances in high speed networking technologies and video compression techniques have made Video-on-Demand (VOD) services feasible. A large-scale VOD system imposes a large demand on I/O bandwidth and storage resources, and therefore, parallel disks are typically used for providing VOD service. Although striping of movie data across a large number of disks can balance the utilization among these disks, such a striping technique can exhibit additional complexity, for instance, in data management, such as synchronization among disks during data delivery, as well as in supporting fault tolerant behavior. Therefore, it is more practical to limit the extent of data striping, for example, by arranging the disks in groups (or nodes) and then allowing intra-group (or intra-node) data striping only. With multiple striping groups, however, we may need to assign a movie to multiple nodes so as to satisfy the total demand of requests for that movie. Such an approach gives rise to several design issues, including: (1) what is the right number of copies of each movie we need so as to satisfy the demand and at the same time not waste storage capacity, (2) how to assign these movies to different nodes in the system, and (3) what are efficient approaches to altering the number of copies of each movie (and their placement) when the need for that arises. In this paper, we study an approach to dynamically reconfiguring the VOD system so as to alter the number of copies of each movie maintained on the server as the access demand for these movies fluctuates. We propose various approaches to addressing the above stated issues, which result in a VOD design that is adaptive to the changes in data access patterns. Performance evaluation is carried out to quantify the costs and the performance gains of these techniques.     

非自衡系统的动态矩阵控制

针对非自衡对象,提出了一种简便的改进ＤＭＣ算法,它克服了现有算法中不能消除输入阶跃扰动所引起的控制余差的局限性。     

离散事件动态系统稳定性分析方法

本文提出一种受控时序PETRI网络方法以建立离散事件动态系统状态空间模型,并以此为基础给出一类离散事件系统的稳定性定义及一种新的稳定性分析方法.