IEEE CONTROL SYSTEMS SOCIETY TECHNICAL COMMITTEE
ON DISCRETE EVENT SYSTEMS

    Ryan J. Leduc
    Chair, IEEE CSS Technical Committee on DES
    Dept. of Computing and Software
    McMaster University
    1280 Main Street West
    Hamilton, Ontario
    Canada L8S 4K1

    Phone: (905) 525-9140 Ext. 27962
    Fax: (905) 524-0340
    e-mail: leduc@mcmaster.ca
    WWW: http://www.cas.mcmaster.ca/~leduc/

DESTC Web Page: http://www.cas.mcmaster.ca/destc/

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Contents:

1. Editorial


2. Books
 2.1 Verification and Control of Hybrid Systems: A Symbolic Approach,
     by Paulo Tabuada

3. Conferences
 3.1 2010 American Control Conference (Sept 15 deadline),  Baltimore,
     Maryland, USA, June 30 - July 2, 2010
 3.2 The 8th IEEE International Conference on Control & Automation (ICCA
     2010), Xiamen, China, June 9 - 11, 2010
 3.3 22nd Chinese Control and Decision Conference (2010 CCDC), Xuzhou,
     Jiangsu Province, China, May 26 - 28, 2010

4. Journals
 4.1 Selections from IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, Volume: 54,
      Issue: 8, August 2009
 4.2 Selections from Control Engineering Practice, Volume 17, Issue 9,
     September 2009
 4.3 Selections from SIAM Journal on Control and Optimization, Vol.48,
     No.3, June 2009

Welcome to the newsletter of the IEEE Control Systems Technical Committee on Discrete Event Systems!

See http://www.cas.mcmaster.ca/destc/ for information on the DESTC.

Personal note from the editor:

Welcome to the August, 2009 newsletter,

Ryan

Contributed by: Ryan Leduc <leduc aT mcmaster DOt ca>

VERIFICATION AND CONTROL OF HYBRID SYSTEMS: A SYMBOLIC APPROACH

Paulo Tabuada
Springer, 2009
ISBN 978-1-4419-0223-8
http://www.cyphylab.ee.ucla.edu/Home/publications/verification-and-control-of-hybrid-systems

Online version available through SpringerLink

Hybrid systems describe the interaction of software, modeled by
finite-state systems such as finite-state machines, with the
physical world, described by infinite-state systems such as
differential equations. Verification and Control of Hybrid Systems
provides a unique systematic exposition of several classes of hybrid
systems, admitting symbolic models along with the
relationships between them. The text outlines several key verification
and control synthesis results for hybrid systems,
guided by the concept of bisimulation, and illustrated by numerous
examples.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

The book is divided into four parts:

Part I presents basic concepts centered on a notion of system that is
general enough to describe finite-state, infinite-state,
and hybrid systems.

Part II discusses the ways in which systems relate to other systems,
such as behavioral inclusion/equivalence and simulation/bisimulation,
using these relationships to study verification and control synthesis
problems for finite-state systems.

Part III draws inspiration from timed automata to present several
classes of hybrid systems, with richer continuous dynamics,
that can be related to finite-state symbolic systems. Once such
relationships are established, verification and control synthesis
problems for these hybrid systems can be immediately solved by
resorting to the techniques described in Part II for finite-state
systems.

Part IV follows the same strategy by generalizing
simulation/bisimulation relationships to approximate
simulation/bisimulation relationships that can be used for a wider
class of hybrid systems.

This comprehensive treatment will appeal to researchers, engineers,
computer scientists, and graduate students in the areas of
formal methods, verification, model checking, and control and will
undoubtedly inspire further study of the specialized literature.

Additional material will be available on the book's website

Contributed by: Ryan Leduc <leduc aT mcmaster DOt ca>

2010 AMERICAN CONTROL CONFERENCE (SEPT 15 DEADLINE)
Baltimore, Maryland, USA
June 30 - July 2, 2010

The ACC is the annual conference of the American Automatic Control
Council (AACC). AACC is the U.S. national member organization of the
International Federation for Automatic Control (IFAC). The 2010 ACC,
held in cooperation with IFAC, will present a technical program
consisting of new developments in theory and practice in the area of
automatic control. The technical program will consist of papers in
regular technical sessions, invited sessions, special sessions, and
pre-conference tutorial/workshop sessions. Special themes for the 2010
ACC will be in the control of biomedical, robotic, and green energy
systems.

The ACC is co-sponsored by eight societies that make up the AACC which
are the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA),
American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), Association of Iron
and Steel Technology (AIST), American Society of Civil Engineers
(ASCE), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE),
American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), International Society
for Measurement and Control (ISA), and the Society for Computer
Simulation (SCS). The 2010 ACC also welcomes industrial sponsors.

Baltimore, home of the Orioles and Ravens, has a beautiful Inner Harbor
with a scenic and popular waterfront. Baltimore is also rich with
history, as the place where Francis Scott Key wrote the lyrics to
"The Star-Spangled Banner" as he watched soldiers of Fort McHenry
defend Baltimore from the Royal Navy in the War of 1812. Other attractions
include the Baltimore Aquarium, the Maryland Science Center, and wide
variety of other museums. Baltimore also hosts a wealth of famous
restaurants and outdoor entertainment such as street entertainers,
fireworks, cruise boats, and open-air theatres.

Key Dates/Deadlines
-------------------

Draft Submission Deadline		Sept 15, 2009
Acceptance/ Rejection Notification	Jan 31, 2010
Final Submission Deadline		March 15, 2010

web site: click here

Contributed by: Ryan Leduc <leduc aT mcmaster DOt ca>

THE 8TH IEEE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON CONTROL & AUTOMATION (ICCA
2010)
Xiamen, China
June 9 - 11, 2010

Call for Papers

The 8th IEEE International Conference on Control & Automation (ICCA'10)
will be held from June 9 to 11, 2010, in Xiamen , China . The
conference is jointly organized by IEEE Control Systems Chapter,
Singapore , and IEEE Control Systems Chapter, Guangzhou , China , and
is technically sponsored by IEEE Control Systems Society, the Technical
Committee of Control Theory, Chinese Association of Automation, and
Xiamen University . It aims to create a forum for scientists and
practicing engineers throughout the world to present the latest
research findings and ideas in the areas of control and automation.

Xiamen, also called Amoy, translated means Lower Gate to the Sea, is a
beautiful garden city located on the scenic coastline of the Taiwan
Strait in southeastern China . Nearby the City of Xiamen is the famous
Wuyi Mountain , which was conferred as the UNESCO World Natural
Heritage and the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage in 1999.

ICCA Proceedings are included in EI Compendex, IEEE Xplore and ISI
Proceedings (ISTP).


Topics of interest include but not limited to
- Modeling of Complex Systems	  - Optimal Control
- Linear Systems		  - Discrete Event Systems
- Robust and Adaptive Control	  - Nonlinear Systems and Control 
- Learning Systems		  - Fuzzy and Neural Systems
- Intelligent and AI Based Control
- Estimation and Identification   - Real-time Systems
- Fault Detection		  - Sensor/data fusion
- Process Control & Instrumentation
- Robotics			  - Motion Control
- Automated Guided Vehicles	  - Flexible Manufacturing Systems
- Control Education		  - Integrated Manufacturing
- Control Applications		  - Factory Modeling and Automation
- Process Automation		  - Petri-Nets and Applications
- Man-machine Interactions	  - Micro and Nano Systems
- Smart Structures


Three Keynote Speeches

Three keynote speeches by well known experts in control and automation
and a plenary panel discussion on emerging topics will be included in
the conference program.


Submission of Papers

Authors should submit the full version of their manuscripts online
through the conference web site athttp://uav.ece.nus.edu.sg/~icca10/.
General inquiries should be addressed directly to Program Chair,
Professor Jianliang Wang, at Nanyang Technological University
(e-mail:icca2010@ntu.edu.sg).

Proposals for invited sessions in the related areas are also solicited
and should be submitted through email to Invited Session Chair,
Professor Gary Feng at City University of Hong Kong (e-mail:
megfeng@cityu.edu.hk).

All materials must be written in English, and a paper should be
submitted only if you intend to present the paper at the conference.
The manuscript to be submitted to the conference should contain
sufficient details including key concepts and novel features of the
work. It should include the title, authors, mailing addresses,
affiliations, telephone and fax numbers and email addresses.

 
Important Dates

Deadline for Manuscript Submissions:  October 1, 2009
Notification of Acceptance:	      January 1, 2010
Submission of Final Papers:	      March 1, 2010

web site: click here

Contributed by: Ryan Leduc <leduc aT mcmaster DOt ca>

22ND CHINESE CONTROL AND DECISION CONFERENCE (2010 CCDC)
Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province, China
May 26 - 28, 2010

Call for Papers

Organisers
- Northeastern University,  China
- IEEE Industrial Electronics (IE) Chapter, Singapore

Local Organiser
- China University of Mining and Technology

Technical Co-Sponsors:
- IEEE Control Systems Society
- IEEE Industrial Electronics Society  (to be confirmed)
- Automatic Control Society, Chinese Association of Aeronautics
- Technical Committee on Control Theory, Chinese Association of
  Automation
- Simulation Methods and Modeling Society, Chinese Association for
  System Simulations
- Intelligent Control & Management Society, Chinese Association for
  Artificial Intelligence 

The Proceedings (Papers in English ) of 2010 CCDC will be indexed by
ISTP and included in the IEEE Xploredatabase, as well as indexed by EI
Compendex.

2010 CCDC covers both theory and applications in all the areas of
systems, control and decision. In addition to the technical sessions,
Plenary Talks and Semi-Plenary Talks on the State-of-the-Art in these
areas will be given by prominent researchers.

INVITED PLENARY TALKS will be delivered by

- Professor David John Hill, Australian National University
- Professor  Frank Lewis, The University of Texas at Arlington

INVITED SEMI-PLENARY TALKS will be delivered by

- Professor Murat Arcak ; University of California, Berkeley
- Professor Gang (Gary) Feng; City University of Hong Kong
- Professor Zhong-Ping Jiang ; Polytechnic Institute of New York
  University
- Professor Lorenzo Marconi; University of Bologna
- Professor George J. Pappas, University of Pennsylvania 

Important Dates:
- Deadline for Full Paper submission: 15 October 2009
- Notification of Acceptance: 15 January  2010
- Deadline for Camera Ready Manuscript Submission: 10 March 2010
- Deadline for Authors' Registration: 10 March 2010

Please submit your papers through the conference website.

web site: click here

Contributed by: Ryan Leduc <leduc aT mcmaster DOt ca>

SELECTIONS FROM IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON AUTOMATIC CONTROL
VOLUME: 54, ISSUE: 8
AUGUST, 2009

1)  Probabilistic Supervisory Control of Probabilistic Discrete Event
Systems

Pantelic, V.; Postma, S.M.; Lawford, M.

This paper considers supervisory control of probabilistic discrete
event systems (PDESs). PDESs are modeled as generators of probabilistic
languages. The supervisory control problem considered is to find, if
possible, a supervisor under whose control the behavior of a plant is
identical to a given probabilistic specification. The probabilistic
supervisors we employ are a generalization of the deterministic ones
previously employed in the literature. At any state, the supervisor
enables/disables events with certain probabilities. Necessary and
sufficient conditions for the existence of such a supervisor, and an
algorithm for its computation are presented.

web site: click here

Contributed by: Ryan Leduc <leduc aT mcmaster DOt ca>

SELECTIONS FROM CONTROL ENGINEERING PRACTICE
VOLUME 17, ISSUE 9
SEPTEMBER, 2009

1)  Specification of a batch plant using process algebra and petri nets

Petter Falkman, Bengt Lennartson, Michael Tittus

The focus of the present paper is on the specification of routing and
resource allocation systems. Such systems can be described as a set of
shared resources and a set of products. The products utilize the
resources in order to be manipulated according to a certain
specification. This product specification consists of a set of
operations that are to be executed in a certain order by specific
resources. This results in a desired product route through the resource
system, and hence the product specification is also called a routing
specification. The process algebra petri net (PPN) formalism, i.e. a
combination of petri nets and process algebra, implies efficient and
less complex models for routing specifications compared to PNs and
automata descriptions. The aim of this paper is to show how the PPN
language can be used in order to simplify the specification of desired
routes of the chemical batch process.

web site: click here

Contributed by: Ryan Leduc <leduc aT mcmaster DOt ca>

SELECTIONS FROM SIAM JOURNAL ON CONTROL AND OPTIMIZATION
VOL.48, NO.3
JUNE, 2009

1)  Effective Control Synthesis for Partially Observed Discrete-Event
Systems

J. G. Thistle and H. M. Lamouchi

Control under partial observations is studied within the
infinite-string supervisory control framework. It is shown that,
provided that there are no pure liveness assumptions embodied in the
plant model (technically, the $omega$-language generated by the plant
is the limit of the finite-string language generated), the problem of
synthesizing a centralized supervisor reduces to the case of complete
observations; the result involves constructions similar to those used
to "determinize" nondeterministic automata on infinite strings.

2) Compositional Verification in Supervisory Control

Hugo Flordal and Robi Malik

This paper proposes a compositional approach to verifying whether a
large discrete event system is nonblocking. The new approach avoids
computing the synchronous product of a large set of finite-state
machines. Instead, the synchronous product is computed gradually, and
intermediate results are simplified using conflict-preserving
abstractions based on process-algebraic results about fair testing.
Heuristics are used to choose between different possible abstractions.
By translating the problem representation, the same method can also be
applied to verify safety properties, in particular, controllability.
Experimental results show that the method is applicable to finite-state
machine models of industrial scale and brings considerable improvements
in performance over other methods for nonblocking verification.

web site: click here