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. Conferences
 2.1 Joint CTS-HYCON Workshop on Nonlinear and Hybrid Control,
     Paris, France, July 10 - 12, 2006
 2.2 The IASTED International Conference on Intelligent Systems and
     Control,  Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, August 14 - 16, 2006

3. Journals
 3.1 Selections from IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and
     Cybernetics - Part B: Cybernetics, Volume:36 Issue:1,
     February 2006
 3.2 Selections from IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control,
     Volume: 51, Issue: 2, February 2006

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

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

Personal note from the editor:

Welcome to the Feb. 2006 newsletter.

Contributed by: Mariagrazia Dotoli <dotoli@deemail.poliba.it>

JOINT CTS-HYCON WORKSHOP ON NONLINEAR AND HYBRID CONTROL
Paris, France
July 10 - 12, 2006

The main objective of the Joint CTS-HYCON Workshop is to bring 
together those enrolled in the activities of the CTS Marie Curie 
Training Site and of the HYCON Network of Excellence, in order to

promote the exchange of ideas and experiences and reinforce
scientific contacts in the large multidisciplinary area of the
control of nonlinear and hybrid systems. The Workshop is also
open to other researchers, engineers and PhD students.

All PhD students (CTS fellows - present and past - HYCON PhD
students  and other PhD students) are invited to participate by
sending their paper by 4 March 2006. Instructions and templates
are available on the web site of the Workshop:

www.cts-hycon-workshop.org

The selected papers will be presented at the Workshop together
with a series of lectures given by the following invited
speakers:

Frank Allgower, Georges Bastin, Antonio Bicchi, Eduardo Camacho, 
Bronislaw Jakubczyk, Karl Henrik Johansson, Antonio Loria, John 
Lygeros, Henk Nijmeijer, Elena Panteley, Gauthier Sallet, Arjan
van der Schaft, Rodolphe Sepulchre, Andrew Teel, Claire Tomlin.

Junior speakers (PhD students) will contend for three of the Best

Junior Presentation Awards. The awards will be given both for 
scientific content and for presentation technique. A selection of

papers will be published after the Workshop (August 2006) in a
book edited by the International and Technical Encyclopedia ISTE 
(www.iste.co.uk).

Web site: click here

Contributed by: Ryan Leduc <leduc At mcmaster Dot ca>

THE IASTED INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS AND
CONTROL
Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
August 14 - 16, 2006

SPONSORS
- The International Association of Science and Technology for
Development (IASTED) Technical Committee on Control
- Technical Committee on Intelligent Systems and Control

CONFERENCE CO-CHAIRS
  V.L. Syrmos - University of Hawaii at Manoa, USA
  M.H. Hamza - IASTED, Canada 

PURPOSE

ISC 2006 will act as an international forum for researchers and
practitioners interested in the advances in and applications of
intelligent systems and control. It is an opportunity to present
and observe the latest research, results, and ideas in these
areas. ISC 2006 will aim to strengthen relationships between
industry, research laboratories and universities. All papers
submitted to this conference will be peer evaluated by at least
 two reviewers. Acceptance will be based primarily on originality
 and contribution.

ISC 2006 will be held in conjunction with the IASTED
International Conferences on:

    * Robotics and Applications (RA 2006)
    * Signal and Image Processing (SIP 2006)
    * Internet and Multimedia Systems and Applications (IMSA
      2006)

SCOPE
The topics to be covered include, but are not limited to:

Intelligent and Hybrid Control Systems:
- Control using Artificial Intelligence
- Neural Network Control
- Fuzzy Logic Control
- Genetic Algorithms and Evolutionary Control
- Learning Algorithms
- Planning Systems
- Intelligent Control
- Intelligent Agents
- Multi-Agent Systems
- Knowledge-based and Expert Systems

Adaptive and Robust Control:
- Model Predictive Control
- Feedback Control
- Adaptive Control
- Optimal Control
- Advance Control Strategies
- Robust Control
- Real-Time Control
- Multi-Variable Control
- Reconfigurable Control

System Identification, Optimization and Automation:
- Identification
- Estimation
- Filtering
- Forecasting
- Linear Systems
- Discrete Event Systems
- Nonlinear Systems
- Intelligent Analysis and Design
- Industrial Automation
- Stability
- Fault Diagnosis
	
Intelligent Data Systems and Computing
- Knowledge Discovery and Acquisition
- Knowledge Representation
- Information Modelling
- Intelligent Decision Support Systems
- Case-based Reasoning
- Data Mining
- Intelligent Databases and Information Retrieval
- Intelligent System Architectures
- Machine Learning
- Soft Computing
- Fusion
- Distributed Parameter Systems
- Modelling and Simulation
- Control Software

Applications
- Power Systems
- Telecommunications
- Signal and Image Processing
- Web-based Applications
- Robotics
- Automotive and Transportation Systems
- Aerospace
- Mechatronics
- Process Control
- Manufacturing
- Construction
- Bio Systems
- Biomedical Engineering
- Environmental Systems
- Oceanic Engineering
- Management Science and Applications
- Education
- Entertainment / Games
- Others

IMPORTANT DEADLINES

Submissions due:	      April 1, 2006
Notification of acceptance:   May 15, 2006
Camera-ready manuscripts due: June 1, 2006
Registration Deadline:	      June 15, 2006

Web site: click here

Contributed by: Emanuel Almeida <almeidae@umich.edu>

SELECTIONS FROM IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON SYSTEMS, MAN, AND
CYBERNETICS - PART B: CYBERNETICS
VOLUME:36 ISSUE:1
FEBRUARY, 2006

1) A Sound and Complete Fuzzy Temporal Constraint Logic
Cardenas-Viedma, M.A.

Abstract
In this work, we define an extended fuzzy temporal constraint
logic (EFTCL) based on possibilistic logic. EFTCL allows us to
handle fuzzy temporal constraints between temporal variables and,
therefore, enables us to express interrelated events through
fuzzy temporal constraints. EFTCL is compatible with a
theoretical temporal reasoning model: the fuzzy temporal
constraint networks (FTCN). The syntax, the semantics and the
deduction and refutation theorems for EFTCL are similar to those
defined for the sound and noncomplete fuzzy temporal constraint
logic (FTCL). In this paper, a resolution principle for
performing inferences which take these constraints into account
is proposed for EFTCL. Moreover, we prove the soundness and the 
completeness of the refutation by resolution in EFTCL.

Web site: click here

Contributed by: Ryan Leduc <leduc At mcmaster Dot ca>

SELECTIONS FROM IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON AUTOMATIC CONTROL
VOLUME: 51, ISSUE: 2
FEBRUARY, 2006

1) Similarity-Based Supervisory Control of Discrete-Event Systems

 Cao, Y.; Ying, M.

Abstract: 

Due to the appearance of uncontrollable events in discrete-event
systems, one may wish to replace the behavior leading to the
uncontrollability of pre-specified language by some quite similar
one. To capture this similarity, we introduce metric to
traditional supervisory control theory and generalize the 
concept of original controllability to$ lambda $-controllability,
where$ lambda $indicates the similarity degree of two languages.
A necessary and sufficient condition for a language to be$ lambda
 $-controllable is provided. We then examine some properties of 
$ lambda $-controllable languages and present an approach to 
optimizing a realization.

2) A Note on Deciding Controllability in Pushdown Systems

 Griffin, C.

Abstract: 

 Consider an event alphabet$Sigma $. The supervisory control
theory of Ramadge and Wonham asks the question, given a plant
model$G$, with language $cal L_ M (G) subseteq Sigma ^ast $ 
and another language $K subseteq cal L_ M (G)$, is there a
supervisor $varphi$ such that $cal L_ M (varphi /G)=K$. Ramadge
 and Wonham showed that a necessary condition for
this to be true is the so-called controllability of $K$ with
respect to $cal L_ M (G)$. They showed that when $G$ is a finite
state automaton and $K$ is a regular language (also generated by
a finite state automaton), then the controllability property
 was decidable for$K$. The class of languages generated by
pushdown automata properly includes the regular languages. They
 are accepted by finite state machines coupled with pushdown
 stack memory. This makes them interesting candidates as
supervisory languages, since the supervisor will have nonfinite
memory. In this note, we show the following: i) If$S$is a
specification given by a deterministic pushdown automaton
 and$L$is generated by a finite state machine, then there is
 an algorithm to decide whether$K = S cap L$ is controllable 
with respect to$L$. ii) It is undecidable for an
arbitrary specification$S$generated by a nondeterministic
pushdown automaton and plant language$L$generated by a finite
state machine whether$K = S cap L$is controllable with respect
to$L$.

3) Decentralized Supervision of Petri Nets

Apkarian, P.; Noll, D.

Abstract: 

This note extends previous results on the supervision of Petri
nets (PNs) to the decentralized setting. While focusing on the
extension of supervision based on place invariants (SBPI), the
 proposed approach is more general and could be applied to other
 types of supervision as well. We begin by introducing 
d-admissibility as an extension to the decentralized setting
 of the centralized admissibility concept. We define also 
structural d-admissibility, as the counterpart of the
simple sufficient conditions for centralized admissibility in the
context of the SBPI. Note that (structural) d-admissibility is
only sufficient for specification to be enforcible with the same
permissiveness as in the centralized setting with full 
controllability and observability. However, structural 
d-admissibility can be checked with low polynomial
complexity. Based on the d-admissibility concept, we propose two
suboptimal methods to design decentralized supervisors. The first
method is to find a centralized solution, and then distribute the
centralized supervisory policy by means of communication. The
amount of communication can be minimized by means of an integer
 linear program (ILP). The second method is to transform the
specification to a (more restrictive) d-admissible specification
by means of an ILP. In the case of decentralized supervision 
with communication, the ILP can be used to minimize the amount
 of communication required by the solution.

Web site: click here