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 11th IFAC Symposium on Control in Transportation Systems (IFAC-CTS2006),
     Delft, The Netherlands, August 29 - 30, 2006
 2.2 Eighteenth International Conference on Systems Engineering (ICSE2006),
     Coventry, UK, September 5 - 7, 2006
 2.3 Invited Session on Control of Discrete Time Hybrid Systems ADHS, Alghero,
     Italy, June 7 - 9, 2006
 2.4 2007 American Control Conference, New York City, USA, July 11 - 13, 2007

3. Journals
 3.1 Selections from IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, Vol 31, No.12,
     December 2005
 3.2 Selections from Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering,
     Volume:3 Issue:1, January 2006
 3.3 Selections from IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, Volume: 51, 
     Issue: 1, January 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 January 2006 edition of the newsletter.

Ryan

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

11TH IFAC SYMPOSIUM ON CONTROL IN TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS (IFAC-CTS2006)
Delft, The Netherlands
August 29 - 30, 2006

11th IFAC Symposium on Control in Transportation Systems (IFAC-CTS2006)
August 29-30, 2006. Delft (The Netherlands)
http://www.rws-avv.nl/ifac-cts2006

Important deadlines:
*     Draft paper		    January 31, 2006
*     Notification of acceptance    March 31, 2006
*     Full paper		    May 31, 2006
*     Symposium 		    August 29-31, 2006

This Symposium will provide an international forum for the recent
developments and advances in any aspect on control in traffic and
transportation systems, including road-, rail-, air- and waterborne
transportation.

Authors from research institutes, public bodies, consultancies and industry
are invited to submit a draft paper on theoretical developments or on
practical applications, implementations and assessments,

The main technical areas of the Symposium are (not limited):
* Air Traffic Management
* Automated Highway Systems
* Decision Support Systems
* Demand Management
* Dynamic Route Guidance
* Environmental Issues
* Freight and Fleet Management
* Incident Management
* Integrated Traffic Control
* Marine Systems
* Motorway Traffic Management
* OD-estimation
* Public Transport
* Rail Traffic Modelling
* Sensors
* Standardisation
* System Architectures
* Transportation Modelling and Planning
* Travel and Traffic Information
* Urban Traffic Control
* Vehicle Automation
* Vehicle Modelling and Simulation
* Vessel Traffic Services

All papers accepted for presentation will appear in the CD-ROM of the
symposium and will be distributed to the participants. Papers duly presented
will be archived and offered for sale, in the form of Proceedings, by
Elsevier Science Ltd, Oxford, UK.

Web site: click here

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

EIGHTEENTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SYSTEMS ENGINEERING (ICSE2006)
Coventry, UK
September 5 - 7, 2006

ICSE2006 is supported by Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers 
(UKRI Control Systems Society Chapter)

Conference themes 
The Conference will cover the general area of Systems Engineering, with 
particular emphasis being placed on applications. It is expected to include 
sessions on the following themes: 
Control Theory and Applications
Embedded Control Systems and Sensors
Energy Efficiency and Environmental Systems
Fault Detection and Condition Monitoring
Image and Signal Processing
Industrial Control Systems
Intelligent and Adaptive Systems
Intelligent Agents
Logistics and Scheduling
Mechatronic Systems
Medical Technologies
Mobile Computing and Wireless Technologies
Modelling and Simulation
Network Optimisation and Communications
Prognosis and Diagnostics
Supply Chain Modelling and Control
System Identification
Transportation Systems and Infrastructure 
 
Deadlines
Submission of extended abstracts / proposals for sessions: 10 March 2006. 
Acceptance of papers: 10 April 2006. 
Submission of full papers: 12 June 2006

We have already received a number of proposal for special sessions, 
including medical robotics, automotive applications, Marine applications, 
LabVIEW sponsored sessions, Image processing applied to tracking.

Authors wishing to contribute to the Conference should submit an extended 
abstract (three pages long) of their proposed contribution before 10 March 
2006. The abstract should be typed and written in English. 

Reviewing of abstracts submitted before the deadline date take place on a 
regular basis and allows early decisions to be taken, assisting authors in 
planning their travelling arrangements. 

The Organising Committee also welcomes proposals for specialist sessions on 
a focused theme relevant to the Conference, each session consisting of up to 
six papers. 

Professor Keith Burnham
Chairman ICSE2006

Dr Olivier Haas
Conference Secretary ICSE 2006

Control Theory and Applications Centre
Armstrong Siddeley Building
Coventry University
Priory Street
Coventry CV1 5ED
United Kingdom
Telephone 024 7688 7658
International code +44 (0)24 7688 7658
E-mail icse2006@coventry.ac.uk
Fax +44 (0)24 7688 8052
Alternative telephone numbers
Telephone +44 (0)24 7688 8052
or +44 (0)24 7688 8972
Conference Administrator contact details
Telephone +44 (0)24 7688 8277 / 8586
Fax +44 (0)24 7688 7661

Web site: click here

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

INVITED SESSION ON CONTROL OF DISCRETE TIME HYBRID SYSTEMS ADHS
Alghero, Italy
June 7 - 9, 2006

Control of Discrete-Time Hybrid Systems: Theory and Applications at ADHS'2006
Alghero, Italy, June 7-9, 2006.
http://www.diee.unica.it/adhs06/

SCOPE
The IFAC conference series on Analysis and Design of Hybrid Systems
(ADHS) is focused on the Automation of Dynamical Systems. ADHS'06 is
the second conference of this series after ADHS'03 in Saint Malo. The
ADHS series follows the successful conference series on the Automation
de Processus Mixed / Automation of Mixed Processes: ADPM'92 in Paris,
ADPM'94 in Brussels, ADPM'98 in Reims, ADPM'2000 in Dortmund.

Topics of the invited session
CONTROL OF DISCRETE-TIME HYBRID SYSTEMS: THEORY AND APPLICATIONS.
Discrete-time hybrid systems  are a class of hybrid systems for which
both modeling and control aspects have been subject of recent developments
e.g. Mixed Logical and Dynamical (MLD) Systems. The control aspects
include control algorithms as well as the latest optimization methods.

The aim of the session is to present new theoretical results, original
approaches and new algorithms related to the Control of Discrete Time
Hybrid Systems as well as new software developments and implementation 
issues for the control purpose.

ORGANIZER  
Naly Rakoto
   Dept. of Automatic Control
   Ecole des Mines de Nantes
   4, rue Alfred Kastler
   44307 Nantes Cedex 03, France
   Phone: +33 2 5185 8306
   e-mail: rakoto@emn.fr
     
DEADLINES
- Submission of draft papers:	      January 5, 2006
- Submission of special sessions:     January 5, 2006
- Notification of acceptance:		March 1, 2006
- Final manuscripts and registration:	April 1, 2006

We would appreciate you letting us know about your interest in 
contributing a paper to this session. Please send an e-mail to	
the organizer to express your interest.

PAPER SUBMISSION
Electronic submission (PS or PDF) should be sent to the address
   adhs06@diee.unica.it
A draft paper may be up to 8 pages long and has to conform to the
IFAC instructions which can be found at the following address:
   http://www.elsevier.com/homepage/saf/ifac/site/IPV overview.htm
Accepted papers will only be allotted 6 pages in the preprints.

Web site: click here

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

2007 AMERICAN CONTROL CONFERENCE
New York City, USA
July 11 - 13, 2007

The American Automatic Control Council (AACC) will hold the 26th American
Control Conference (ACC) Wednesday through Friday, July 11 to 13, 2007 at the
Marriott Marquis Hotel at Times Square in New York City, USA. The ACC is an
annual, 3-day event, presenting about 900 papers, with over 1200 participants
from the measurement and automation communities.Presentations are selected
through a review process and issued in the proceedings.This premier
conference and associated workshops (two additional days before the
conference drawing approximately 200 participants) focus on advances in the
theory and practice associated with automatic control.

The 2007 ACC will feature the presentation of contributed and invited papers,
as well as tutorial sessions and workshops. In addition to the standard oral
presentations, the 2007 ACC will also feature interactive presentations which
will provide active exchange with the audience. Topics for the interactive
sessions will be selected specifically to benefit from the time for
interaction and discussion that are not available in a typical oral session,
and the authors will be encouraged to make creative use of poster boards as
well as hands-on computer simulations and demonstrations. The conference will
cover a broad range of topics relevant to the theory and practice of control
and automation, including robotics, manufacturing, guidance and control,
power systems, process control, identification and estimation, signal
processing, modeling and advanced simulation, model validation, fault
detection, multivariable control, adaptive control, robust control,
intelligent control, expert systems, neural networks, industrial applications
of advanced control, control engineering education, and computer-aided
design.

Key Dates:

Deadline for all submissions and proposals: September 15, 2006

Notification of Acceptance/Rejection: January 31, 2007

Final manuscript submission deadline: March 15, 2007

Author registration fee deadline: March 15, 2007

Contributed papers will be classified as regular or short. Regular papers are
intended to be a complete description of finished work. Short papers are
intended to be an exposition of a novel idea or preliminary results.

Invited session proposals should present a unifying theme from a diversity of
viewpoints and consist of a summary statement and six full papers.

Special session proposals are invited for traditional special sessions and a
new demonstration session. Authors submitting papers in regular or
invited sessions may simultaneously submit proposals to demonstrate their
results after their talks in a special interactive demonstration session.

Tutorial sessions should address state-of-the-art control theory and
industrial applications.

Pre-conference workshop proposals addressing tutorial topics or current
important research areas in control are invited.

Exhibits related to the theory and practice of control and control education
are invited.

Web site: click here

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

SELECTIONS FROM IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
VOL 31, NO.12
DECEMBER, 2005

1) From Live Sequence Charts to State Machines and Back: A Guided Tour

Yves Bontemps, Patrick Heymans, and Pierre-Yves Schobbens

Abstract: 

The problem of relating state-based intraagent (or intraobject) behavioral
descriptions with scenario-based interagent (interobject) descriptions has
recently focused much interest among the software engineering community. This
paper compiles the results of our investigation of this problem. As
interagent formalism, we adopt a simple variant of Live Sequence Charts. For
the intraagent perspective, we consider a game-theoretic foundation, looking
at agents as "strategies," which encompasses the popular "state-based"
paradigm. Three classes of relationships between models are studied: scenario
checking (called eLSC checking), synthesis, and verification. We set a
formally defined theoretical stage that allows us to express these three
problems very simply, to discuss their complexity, and to describe optimal
solutions. Our study reveals the intrinsic high computational difficulty of
these tasks. Consequently, many related problems and solutions are surveyed,
some of which can be the basis for practical solutions. In this, we also
offer a panorama of current research and directions for the future.

2) A Scenario-Matching Approach to the Description and Model Checking of
Real-Time Properties

Victor Braberman, Nicolas Kicillof, and Alfredo Olivero

Abstract:

A major obstacle in the technology-transfer agenda of behavioral analysis and
design methods is the need for logics or automata to express properties for
control-intensive systems. Interaction-modeling notations may offer a
replacement or a complement, with a practitioner-appealing and lightweight
flavor, due partly to the subspecification of intended behavior by means of
scenarios. We propose a novel approach consisting of engineering a new formal
notation of this sort based on a simple compact declarative semantics: VTS
(Visual Timed event Scenarios). Scenarios represent event patterns,
graphically depicting conditions over traces. They predicate general system
events and provide features to describe complex properties not expressible
with MSC-like notations. The underlying formalism supports partial orders and
real-time constraints. The problem of checking whether a timed-automaton
model has a matching trace is proven decidable. On top of this kernel, we
introduce a notation to state properties over all system traces: conditional
scenarios, allowing engineers to describe uniquely rich connections between
antecedent and consequent portions of the scenario. An undecidability result
is presented for the general case of the model-checking problem over
dense-time domains, to later identify a decidable, yet practically relevant
subclass, where verification is solvable by generating antiscenarios
expressed in the VTS{\hbox{-}}{\rm kernel} notation.

Web site: click here

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

SELECTIONS FROM TRANSACTIONS ON AUTOMATION SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
VOLUME:3 ISSUE:1
JANUARY, 2006

1) Modeling, Analysis, Synthesis, and Performance Evaluation of 
Multioperational Production Systems With Hybrid Timed Petri Nets

Tsinarakis, G.J.; Tsourveloudis, N.C.; Valavanis, K.P.

Abstract
Hybrid timed Petri nets (HTPNs) are derived to study random topology and 
complexity multioperational production systems where parts of one type	
ollow the same route to produce a final product. Each production system is 
first decomposed into a fundamental multiproductive machine, multiassembly 
and multidisassembly modules, followed by derivation of their corresponding 
HTPN models. The overall system HTPN model is obtained via individual module 
synthesis, satisfying system constraints. Individual module and overall HTPN 
models nodes (places and transitions) are calculated. Individual module and 
overall system model invariants are derived mathematically. Performance and 
possible tradeoffs due to varying operational constraints (buffer capacity, 
work in process, machine utilization, backlog, etc.) are investigated 
through extensive simulations. Results show the applicability of the 
proposed methodology and justify its modeling power and generality. 

Note to Practitioners: This paper was motivated by the problem of analysis 
and performance evaluation of multioperational production systems. In these 
systems, machines are not dedicated but, at different time intervals, 
perform different operations. The overall complexity of most existing Petri 
net modeling and analysis approaches for production systems increases 
significantly with the size and the complexity of the considered system. 
This paper suggests a new general modular method for modeling, analysis, 
synthesis, and performance evaluation of random topology and complexity 
multioperational production systems using hybrid timed Petri nets (HTPNs). 
In this, the overall model construction is greatly simplified and its 
properties are easily obtained with respect to the features of three 
fundamental modules. The performance of our approach is evaluated by 
simulations of realistic, in terms of assumptions, manufacturing systems. 
The method presented provides a promising general use tool for studying 
multioperational production systems which, if appropriately modified, may be 
also applied to other types of discrete event systems.

2) Diagnosis of Repeated Failures for Discrete Event Systems With Linear-
Time Temporal-Logic Specifications

Jiang, S.; Kumar, R.

Abstract
In our earlier work, we introduced a state-based approach for the diagnosis 
of repeatedly occurring failures in discrete event systems (DESs). Since 
temporal logic provides a simpler way of specifying system properties; in 
this paper, a temporal-logic-based approach for diagnosing the occurrence of 
a repeated number of failures is developed. Linear-time temporal-logic (LTL) 
formulae are used to represent the specifications of DESs. Notions of 
prediagnosability for failures and diagnosability for repeated failures are 
introduced in the setting of temporal logic. A polynomial algorithm for the 
test of prediagnosability for failures is provided. The diagnosis problem 
for repeated failures in the temporal-logic setting is reduced to one in a 
state-based setting, and so the prior results of a state-based repeated 
failure diagnosis can be applied. Finally, a simple example is given for 
illustration. 

Note to Practitioners: Certain failures in a system are repeatable, such as 
routing errors in a manufacturing system. A theory for the diagnosis of such 
failures was presented in an earlier work of Jiang The present paper uses 
temporal logic to specify such failures. It turns out that repeatable 
failures can be specified as violations of invariant properties (i.e., 
properties that must always hold). Given an invariant property that the 
system must always satisfy, an algorithm is presented to refine the system 
model and label those states of the refined system where the property is 
violated. The problem of repeated diagnosis then requires determining, 
within a bounded delay, each time a "failure-state" is visited. For this 
analysis, the existing theory developed by Jiang is used.

Web site: click here

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

SELECTIONS FROM IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON AUTOMATIC CONTROL
VOLUME: 51, ISSUE: 1
JANUARY, 2006

1) Enhanced Dynamic Programming Algorithms for Series Line Optimization

Veatch, M.H.

Abstract:

Dynamic programming value iteration is made more efficient on a five-machine
unreliable series line by characterizing the transient and insensitive
states. Holding costs are minimized subject to a service level constraint in
a make-to-stock system with backordering. State space truncations are chosen
by checking the recurrent class in previous runs. An approximate model is
developed that reduces the number of machine states. Monotone control theory
is used to restrict the search for a control switching surface. Numerical
optimal policies are compared with the heuristic control point policy and
several characteristics of optimal policies are identified.

Web site: click here