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/

To subscribe/unsubscribe to the newsletter, please go here.

To submit news items and articles to this newsletter, go here.

It is the responsibility of the contributor to ensure that they have the necessary permissions/clearance required for the transmittal of their news item.

Contents:

1. Editorial

2. Announcements
 2.1 Workshop on Model Predictive Control of Hybrid Systems
 2.2 DESTC Newsletter Mailing List Moving to Mailman
 2.3 Reminder: DESTC Meeting at CDC'05

3. Conferences
 3.1 2006 IEEE International Conference on Networking, Sensing and Control,
     Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, USA, April 23 - 25, 2006
 3.2 Special session on Supply Chain Management at International Workshop
     LT'06-Logistics and Transportation 2006, Hammamet, Tunisia, April 30
     - May 2, 2006
 3.3 Petri Nets 2006, Turku, Finland, June 26 - 30, 2006
 3.4 6th IFAC Conference on Analysis and Design of Hybrid Systems ADHS'06,
     Alghero, Italy, June 7 - 9, 2006
 3.5 1st International Symposium on Systems and Control in Aerospace and
     Astronautics (ISSCAA2006), Harbin, China, January 19 - 21, 2006
 3.6 2006 International Conference on Dynamics, Instrumentation and Control,
     Queretaro, Mexico, August 13 - 16, 2006
 3.7 2006 IEEE International Conference on Service Operations and Logistics, and
     Informatics, Shanghai, China, June 21 - 23, 2006
 3.8 2006 IEEE CCA/CACSD/ISIC, Munich, Germany, October 4 - 6, 2006
 3.9 12th IFAC Symposium on Information Control Problems in Manufacturing,
     Saint-Etienne, France, May 17 - 19, 2006
 3.10 The 17th IASTED International Conference on Modelling and Simulation (MS
     2006),  Montreal, Canada, May 24 - 26, 2006
 3.11  The 15th IASTED International Conference on Applied Simulation and Modelling
     (ASM 2006), Rhodes, Greece, June 26 - 28, 2006
 3.12  The Sixth IASTED International Conference on Modelling, Simulation, and
     Optimization (MSO 2006), Gaborone, Botswana, September 11 - 13, 2006

4. Journals
 4.1 Selections from IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, Volume 50, Issue
     9, September 2005
 4.2 IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, Vol. 31, No.9, September 2005
 4.3 Selections from Automatica, Volume:41 Issue:11, November 2005
 4.4 Selections from IEEE Systems, Man and Cybernetics - Part B: Cybernetics,
     Volume: 35  Issue 5, October 2005
 4.5 Selections from IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering,
     Volume:2 Issue:4, October 2005
 4.6  Selections from IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control,  Volume: 50, 
     Issue: 10, October 2005
 4.7 Discrete Event Dynamic Systems, Theory and Applications, Volume 15,
     Number 4, December 2005
 4.8 Selections from IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics - Part A:
     Systems and Humans, Volume:35 Issue:6, November 2005

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 October edition of the newsletter.

Ryan Leduc

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

WORKSHOP ON MODEL PREDICTIVE CONTROL OF HYBRID SYSTEMS

Workshop on Model Predictive Control of Hybrid Systems
IEEE International Conference on Decision and Control,
December 11, Sevilla, Spain

Organizer: Alberto Bemporad (univ. of Siena, Italy)

Target Audience:  The workshop is intended for researchers and engineers 
that want to learn about the theory and practice of model predictive control 
(MPC) for linear and hybrid systems, from the basic MPC setup to advanced 
hybrid modeling and explicit representations of MPC in piecewise a.ne form 
via multiparametric programming.

Summary:  Most of the control synthesis approaches developed in the last few 
years for hybrid systems involve the solution of optimal control problems. 
For continuous-time hybrid systems, researchers either studied necessary 
conditions for a trajectory to be optimal, or focused on the computation of 
optimal/suboptimal solutions by means of dynamic programming or the maximum 
principle. The hybrid optimal control problem becomes less complex when the 
dynamics is expressed in discrete-time or as discrete-events, as in general 
the main source of complexity becomes the combinatorial (yet .nite) number 
of possible switching sequences.  By looking at the MPC problem as a 
multiparametric program where the control inputs are the optimization 
variables and the states and references are the parameters, the equivalent 
explicit form of the MPC control law can be computed algorithmically. Such a 
control law is piecewise a.ne, and consequently, MPC can be implemented as a 
look-up table of linear gains, drastically easing on-line computations and 
making the control code much simpler because no numerical optimization 
solver is involved.

During the workshop, the attendee will be introduced to a free software 
tool, the Hybrid  Toolbox developed by the workshop's proposers [30], which 
enables a direct application in Matlab of the techniques for modeling, 
simulating, and verifying the safety properties of hybrid systems, for 
designing MPC controllers for linear systems with constraints and hybrid 
systems, and for determining equivalent piecewise a.ne control functions 
that can be immediately prototyped on hardware. During the workshop a few 
case studies will be described that were performed in collaboration with 
Ford Research Laboratories (Dearborn, MI), to provide an industrial 
viewpoint and highlight the potentials and limitations on the proposed 
hybrid MPC technologies.

Web site
http://www.esi2.us.es/%7Ecdcecc05/workshops.htm#FD-7

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

DESTC NEWSLETTER MAILING LIST MOVING TO MAILMAN

The DESTC mailing list will be shortly transitioned to use the Mailman
mailing list management software. One of the main advantages of this
software is that it provides a web interface that allows people to
subscribe/unsubscribe and otherwise manage their subscription
themselves.

Before the next newsletter goes out, I will add all the e-mail
addresses currently on the list to the "destc-l" mailing list managed
by Mailman. You will then receive a welcome e-mail with subject
'Welcome to the "destc-l" mailing list,'  which will contain
information about how to manage your subscription, including your password.

Once you receive the e-mail, save it in a safe place, and that's it!
You don't have to do anything more to continue receiving the DESTC
newsletters via Mailman.

If you have any questions or problems, then send e-mail to:
destc@cas.mcmaster.ca

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

REMINDER: DESTC MEETING AT CDC'05

There will be a meeting of the IEEE Control Systems Technical
Committee Group on Discrete Event Systems at the 2005 Conference on
Decision and Control (http://www.esi2.us.es/~cdcecc05/) in Seville, 
Spain on Monday, Dec. 12, 2005, from 7:00-8:00pm. The location is
the Triana room.

If you are interested in helping out with the committee's activities
and will be at the CDC'05, please send me an e-mail
(destc@cas.mcmaster.ca) to let me know to expect you. How much you
choose to participate is always up to you. Whether you simply give us
the benefit of your experience and wisdom during discussions, or take
a more active role in organizing activities, you will be equally
welcome. 

If you are interested in participating but will not be at the CDC'05,
please send me an e-mail to let me know. I can tell you afterwards what
took place.

Contributed by: Mengchu Zhou <zhou@njit.edu>

2006 IEEE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON NETWORKING, SENSING AND CONTROL
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, USA
April 23 - 25, 2006

Call for Paper Submission

Sponsored by the IEEE Systems, Man and Cybernetics
Society. 

Important Dates:
Paper submission deadline	September 29, 2005
Notification of acceptance	November 15, 2005
Camera-ready copy due		December 15, 2005

The 2006 IEEE International Conference on Networking,
Sensing and Control will be held in Ft. Lauderdale, 
FL, from April 23 to April 25, 2006. The technologies 
in networking, sensing and control have been playing 
important roles in our modern civilization and expected 
to stay as main characters in the future. The conference 
intends to bring together all researchers and developers 
in these fields all around the world to share their 
research results, to exchange ideas and to explore possible 
collaborations in academic and in industry. The main theme 
of this year's conference is Energy-Efficient Networking 
and Systems. The area of Energy-Efficient Networking and 
Systems is a fusion of a number of research areas in 
networking, sensing, energy, artificial intelligence, 
operation research, and systems control theory. A system 
engineering approach is required to address new problems  
of this challenging and promising area. This conference 
will provide a remarkable opportunity for the academic
and industrial community to address new challenges and
share solutions, and discuss research directions for the 
future. It will feature plenary speeches from academia, 
NSF or DARPA, and industry, industrial panel sessions,
funding agency panel sessions, poster sessions, and 
invited/special sessions. In particular, we would like
to encourage more participation from the worldwide related 
community and promote more their related activities in
this unique conference.

Web site: click here

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

SPECIAL SESSION ON SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT AT INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP
LT'06-LOGISTICS AND TRANSPORTATION 2006
Hammamet, Tunisia
April 30 - May 2, 2006

A special session on Supply Chain Management, including theoretical and 
application results, is being organized at the International Workshop LT'06 
(Logistics and Transportation 2006), that will be held in Hammamet, Tunisia, 
on April 30th - May 2nd, 2006. The Workshop is technically co-sponsored by 
the IEEE/SMC society and the special session is organized in the framework 
of the activities of the Central and South Italy IEEE/SMC chapter.

Although the deadline for submitting papers is January 15th, 2006, the 
special sessions must be planned in advance. Therefore, submissions of 
contributions to this special session should be communicated immediately by 
email (address: dotoli@deemail.poliba.it), including the paper title with 
the authors list and affiliations and a short abstract (about 100 words) of 
your paper by October 30, 2005.

Note that, although the Workshop languages are both English and French, so 
that contributions for the Workshop are welcome in one of such languages, 
the working language of the special session on Supply Chain Management is 
English. Therefore, contributions to this special session are accepted in 
English only.

In the sequel some information about the special session and the LT'06 
International Workshop is included.

=====================================================================

Invitation to the Special Session on
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
LT'06: International Workshop on Logistics and Transportation 2006
Hammamet, Tunisia, April 30th  May 2nd, 2006 
http://ort.ec-lille.fr/lt2006/index.html (call for papers in French)

INFORMATION ABOUT THE WORKSHOP
The International Workshop on Logistics and Transportation 2006 (LT'06) is 
technically co-sponsored by the IEEE/SMC society and is being organized 
following to the successful 2004 Summer School in Logistics and 
Transportation, held in March 2004 in Tunisia under the high patronage of 
the State Secretariat of the Tunisian Ministry for Higher Education, 
Scientific Research and Technology.

The objective of the LT06 Workshop is to state and develop the reality and 
complexity of problems in the fields of logistics, optimization and 
intelligent transportation, so as to improve theoretical research insights 
in the domain with respect to the industrial context.

The International Workshop on Logistics and Transportation 2006, to be held 
in Hammamet, Tunisia, April 30th  May 2nd, 2006, will bring together 
academic researchers and practitioners from public and private sectors in a 
lively exchange of information and experiences that highlight today's best 
practices and innovations in logistics and transportation. In particular, 
young researchers and Ph.D. students are invited to participate in the event.

WORKSHOP CHAIRMEN
Slim Hammadi
Laboratoire dAutomatique et de Gnie Informatique et Signal LAGIS UPRESA 
8021,
Ecole Centrale de Lille, BP48, 59651 Villeneuve dAscq  France, Tel :+33 3 
20 33 54 47, Fax : +33 3 20 33 54 99
slim.hammadi@ec-lille.fr

Khaled Ghedira
UR. SOIE, Stratgies d'Optimisation de l'ingnierie des Informations et de 
la connaissance
ENSI, Ecole Nationale des Sciences de l'Informatique, 2010 Campus 
Universitaire la Manouba, Tunisie, Tel : +216 71 600 224, Fax : + 216 71 600 
449
khaled.ghedira@isg.rnu.tn

WORKSHOP TOPICS
The Workshop will cover, but will not be limited to, the following topics 
and techniques.

Domains : logistics, transportation, management, resource classification, 
allocation and localisation, bin packing, supply chain, vehicular traffic, 
traffic information systems etc.
Methods and tools: operational research, exact and approximate methods, 
discrete optimisation, 
programming with constraints, multi-criteria analysis, evolutionary 
programming, multi-agent systems, ant colonies, branch and bound, Petri nets 
etc.

Papers, which are not limited to the above topics, can be conceptual, 
theoretical, empirical, or case studies, and will be peer-reviewed. Accepted 
papers will be published in the Workshop proceedings. High quality papers 
will be selected for eventual publication in special issues of renowned 
international journals (e.g.: IEEE/SMC Transactions part A, C, Studies in 
Informatics and Control, journal JESA, electronic journal of SEE/ E-STA).

SPECIAL SESSION SCOPE AND TOPICS
This special track on Supply Chain Management intends to collect academic 
works and industrial applications about managing networks formed by 
enterprises joining together to achieve goals that they could not perform 
separately. In this context, a crucial problem is to ensure efficient 
collaboration among the partners during the life cycle of the network. In 
particular, the session focuses on Supply Chain Management, i.e. the 
practice of coordinating the design, procurement and flow of goods, 
services, information and finances, from raw material flows to parts 
suppliers to manufacturers to distributors to retailers to consumers in a 
supply chain.

Hence, the aim of this session is that of presenting original approaches for 
the analysis and synthesis of Supply Chain Management techniques, as well as 
applications to real case studies. Among others, the session will focus on 
the following topics:

Best practices in supply chain management
Future trends in supply chain management
Supply chain performance modelling, improvement, and integration
Measuring supply chain collaboration performance
Business customer relationship management
Buyer-supplier strategic partnerships
Barriers and enablers of supply chain collaboration
Upstream and downstream supply chain collaboration
Information systems support to supply chain collaboration
e-supply chain management
B2B supply chain collaboration systems
Information exchange standards supporting supply chain collaboration
eBusiness, eProcurement, online negotiation, online auctions
Intelligent agents in supply chain management
Enabling traceability in the supply chain and RFID

SESSION ORGANIZER
Mariagrazia Dotoli
DEE  Politecnico di Bari 
Via Re David, 200
70125 BARI
Italy
Tel. +39 080-5963312 Fax. +39 080-5963410
Email: dotoli@deemail.poliba.it 

DEADLINES
Title, authors list and affiliations with short abstract: October 30, 2005
Paper submission deadline: January 15, 2006
Notification of acceptance: February 15, 2006

SUBMISSIONS TO THE SPECIAL SESSION
Submissions will be made electronically, sending contributions in PDF or RTF 
format in English at the following address: dotoli@deemail.poliba.it
Contributors should send a 100 words short abstract of the paper including 
the following data:

Paper title
Keywords
Authors list and affiliation
Authors complete mail addresses with e-mail address, phone and fax numbers.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
To stay informed about LT'06: International Workshop on Logistics and 
Transportation 2006, please refer to the Workshop web-page.

Web site: click here

Contributed by: Ryan Leduc <leduc@mcmaster.ca>

PETRI NETS 2006
Turku, Finland
June 26 - 30, 2006

27th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON APPLICATION AND THEORY OF
PETRI NETS AND OTHER MODELS OF CONCURRENCY

The 27th annual international Petri Net conference and tutorials will be
organised by Abo Akademi University, Department of Computer Science. Papers
presenting original contributions in any area of application and theory of
Petri nets are sought. The language of the conference is English.

Topics
System design and verification using nets,
Analysis and synthesis, structure and behaviour of nets,
Relationships between net theory and other approaches,
Causality/partial order theory of concurrency,
Net-based semantical, logical and algebraic calculi,
Symbolic net representation (graphical or textual),
Computer tools for nets,
Experience with using nets, case studies,
Educational issues related to nets,
Higher-level net models,
Timed and stochastic nets,
Standardisation of nets,

Applications of nets to different kinds of systems and application fields,
e.g.: flexible manufacturing systems, real-time systems, embedded systems,
defence systems, biological systems, health and medical systems, environmental
systems, hardware structures, telecommunications, railway networks, office
automation, workflows, supervisory control, protocols and networks, Internet,
e-commerce and trading, programming languages, performance evaluation,
operations research. 

The conference takes place under the auspices of EATCS and GI SIG "Petri Nets
and Related System Models".

The proceedings will be published by Springer-Verlag in Lecture Notes in
Computer Science. The final camera-ready version of accepted papers must be
received by Susanna Donatelli no later than April 1, 2006. The page limit is
20 pages.

Important Dates:
Submission of Papers
& Tool Presentations:	November 15, 2005
Notification:	        March 1, 2006
Final Version Due:	April 1, 2006
Tutorials & Workshops:	June 26-27, 2006
Conference:	        June 28-30, 2006

Web site: click here

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

6TH IFAC CONFERENCE ON ANALYSIS AND DESIGN OF HYBRID SYSTEMS ADHS'06
Alghero, Italy
June 7 - 9, 2006

The Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering of the University of 
Cagliari will organize ADHS'06, the second IFAC Conference on Analysis and 
Design of Hybrid Systems.  
The Conference will be held on June 7-9, 2006, in the Hotel Calabona, 
Alghero, Sardinia, Italy.  

In the same week Alghero will also host the 9th International Workshop on 
Variable Structure Systems (VSS06).

Scope and Topics
The IFAC conference series on Analysis and Design of Hybrid Systems (ADHS) 
is focused on the Automation of Dynamical Systems. ADHS'06 will take place 
in Alghero and 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).  

Networked computers control which includes a large amount of discrete 
switching logic and event interactions with continuous systems is ubiquitous 
in the control of manufacturing processes, trains, planes, cars, etc. These 
systems become increasingly complex and difficult to design and to verify 
while the requirements for dynamics performances and safety are also 
increasing.  

The development of systematic methods for efficient and reliable 
realisations of hybrid automation systems is a key issue in industrial 
information and control technology and is therefore currently of high 
interest to control and computer scientists in research institutions as well 
as in many industrial sectors. 

The aim of the IFAC ADHS'06 conference is to bring together researchers and 
practitioners with background in control and computer science in order to 
provide a survey of the advances in the field of hybrid systems and of their 
ability to take up the challenge of analysis, design and verification of 
efficient and reliable control systems.  

Contributions are invited in all areas pertaining to the engineering of 
hybrid dynamic systems including: modeling, specification, analysis, 
verification, control synthesis, simulation, and implementation.  

Contributions on applications of hybrid methods in various fields, such as 
process industry, transport systems (cars, planes, trains, ships, ), 
communication networks, safety systems,  are particularly encouraged. 
Synthetic presentations of hybrid-system problems in these fields are also 
encouraged.

Call for Contribution
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. 
  

The best papers presented at ADHS'06 will also be selected for possible 
publication in IFAC journals.  
  

Special sessions 

Proposals for special sessions on particular aspects of hybrid systems are 
invited. A special session should consist of 4 to 6 papers in the format 
described for individual contributions and a one-page abstract summarising 
the aim and content of the session. This abstract should contain: a title 
for the session, the name and full address of the session organizer, a list 
of keywords and the list of the papers included.  

Important Dates
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
 
International Program Committee 
Chairs: C. G. Cassandras (US), A. Giua (IT), J. Zaytoon (FR) 

Industrial Co-chair: A. Sangiovanni-Vincentelli (US) 
Conference Secretariat 
IFAC ADHS'06  
Dipartimento di Ingegneria Elettrica ed Elettronica 
Universita di Cagliari 
Piazza D'Armi, 09123 Cagliari, Italy 

Phone: +39 070 675 5759 
Fax: +39 070 675 5782 
Email: adhs06@diee.unica.it 

Contact Person: Carla Seatzu

Web site: click here

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

1ST INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON SYSTEMS AND CONTROL IN AEROSPACE AND
ASTRONAUTICS (ISSCAA2006)
Harbin, China
January 19 - 21, 2006

1st International Symposium on Systems and Control in Aerospace and 
Astronautics (ISSCAA2006)

January 19-21, 2006 (during the Harbin Ice and Snow Festival)
Harbin, P.R.China
http://isscaa.hit.edu.cn

Sponsored by: China Space Agency
Organized by: Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China 
Co-sponsored by: China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation,
		 China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation,
		 Chinese Society of Aerospace,
		 Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Org. Secretariat
In Technical Co-operation with: IEEE Industrial Electronics Society,
		 AIAA(American Inst. Aero. & Astro.) (pending)
 
In recent years, tremendous advances have been made in aerospace and 
astronautics technologies. The developments in Asia, especially in China 
have been especially important, making significant contributions to national 
and international economies. The area now plays a greater and more prominent 
role in research and development in space related technologies. In view of 
these developments, it has been decided to initiate a new symposium series, 
to be held biennially, under the title International Symposium on Systems 
and Control in Aerospace and Astronautics (ISSCAA) to enhance collaboration 
and facilitate information exchange between Asia and the rest of the world.

The first ISSCAA will be hosted by the Space Control and Inertial Technology 
Research Center of Harbin Institute of Technology in January 2006 during the 
Ice and Snow Festival, in Harbin, China, a city once called "Paris in the 
Far East". The timing coincides with the celebration of the 85th anniversary 
of HIT, an institute well known for its leading research in Aerospace and 
Astronautics. The aim of this symposium is to bring together an 
international community of experts to discuss the state-of-the art and 
future perspectives of research and development in the areas of systems and 
control in Aerospace and Astronautics. International and national leading 
experts will be invited to give keynote speech, including experts from the 
China Space Agency.

TOPICS
Topics of interest in the areas of systems and control in Aerospace and 
Astronautics include, but are not limited to:
+Space missions, systems, and architecture  
+Communication and Navigation  
+Antenna Systems and Technologies  
+Remote Sensing  
+Spacecraft Avionics Systems & Technologies  
+Spacecraft & Launch Vehicle Systems & Technologies
+Space Robots  
+Unmanned Arial Vehicle Systems and Technologies  
+Diagnostics, Prognostics, and Health Management  
+Complex System Theory	
+Robust and H_infinity Control	
+GA and Evolutionary Computing	
+Variable Structure Control  
+Neural Networks  
+Fuzzy System and Fuzzy Control  
+Adaptive Control  
+Intelligent Control Architectures  
+Machine Learning  
+Hybrid Systems and Control  
+Knowledge-based Sensor Fusion	
+Large Scale Systems  
+Intelligent Agents  
+Discrete Event and Hybrid Systems  
+Computer Networks  
+Image and Signal Processing  
+Digital Communications  
+Modeling and Identification  
+Pattern Recognition  

IMPORTANT DATES
Submission of full papers or extended abstracts and special session 
proposals: 30 October 2005
Notification of acceptance: 20 November 2005
Camera-ready submission of full papers: 20 December2005

CONFERENCE SECRETARIAT
P.O.Box 3015,
Harbin Institute of Technology,
Harbin, 150001, China
Tel: 86-451-86402351
Fax: 86-451-86418091
Email: isscaa@hit.edu.cn
http://isscaa.hit.edu.cn

For inquiries, email to conference secretariat at: isscaa@hit.edu.cn

Web site: click here

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

2006 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON DYNAMICS, INSTRUMENTATION AND CONTROL
Queretaro, Mexico
August 13 - 16, 2006

The 2006 International Conference on Dynamics, Instrumentation and Control, 
CDIC'06, will be held on August 13-16, 2006 in Queretaro, Mexico, as a 
sequel of CDIC'04 that was successfully held in Nanjing, China. The 
conference offers a unique platform for scientists, engineers and 
practitioners throughout the world to present and share their most recent 
research and innovative ideas in the areas of dynamics, instrumentation, 
control and automation. 

TOPICS
Topics of interest include but are not limited to:

*	Modeling & Simulation of Complex Systems 
*	Nonlinear Systems and Control 
*	Fuzzy and Neural Systems 
*	Estimation and Identification 
*	Fault Detection, Testing and Diagnosis 
*	Process Control and Instrumentation 
*	Motion Control 
*	Flexible Manufacturing Systems 
*	Computer Integrated Manufacturing 
*	Petri-Nets and Applications 
*	Micro and Nano Systems 
*	Measurement Methods & Signal Analysis 
*	Hamiltonian and Lagrangian Dynamics 
*	Avionics 
*	Aircraft and Spacecraft Structures 
*	Adaptive and Learning Control 
*	Intelligent and AI Based Control 
*	Real-time Systems 
*	Embedded Sensors & Actuators 
*	Robotics 
*	Time-delay Systems 
*	Rotating System Dynamics & Control 
*	Intelligent Automotive Systems 
*	Control Applications in Automotive Systems 
*	Process Identification/Automation 
*	Semi-Active and Active Vehicle Suspensions 
*	Man-machine Interactions 
*	Smart Structures & Materials 
*	Vibration Control & Chaotic Systems 
*	Hybrid Dynamical Systems 


PAPER SUBMISSION

Prospective authors are invited to submit an extended abstract of 800-1000
words in English, including paper title, author names, addresses,
affiliations, name of the presenter, postal mail and E-mail addresses of the
corresponding author and telephone/facsimile numbers. All accepted papers
would be published on a Conference CD-ROM. Selected papers will be published
in a limited-edition hardcover book by World Scientific Publishing Co. Please
consult conference website for instructions for preparing the manuscript. 

Paper submission by email to: cdic06@encs.concordia.ca 

IMPORTANT DATES

Submission of extended abstract    : January 16, 2006
Notification of Acceptance    : March 10, 2006
Submission of Manuscript    : April 15, 2006
Conference:    : August 13-16, 2006
Official Web Site: http://cdic06.encs.concordia.ca   
E-mail: cdic06@encs.concordia.ca

Web site: click here

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

2006 IEEE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SERVICE OPERATIONS AND LOGISTICS, AND
INFORMATICS
Shanghai, China
June 21 - 23, 2006

2006 IEEE International Conference on Service Operations and Logistics, and 
Informatics, June 21-23, 2006, Shanghai, China.
http://www.ssglobal.org/2006  
 
Sponsored by: IEEE, SSG, IBM, NSFC, Shanghai JiaoTong University

Theme

Given the increasing economic dynamics and the complexity of service 
operations and logistics, it is a critical challenge to leverage information 
technology in achieving world-class quality and productivity in the delivery 
of physical goods and services. This conference aims to bring researchers 
and professionals together to discuss issues and share their research and 
development results and experiences in the areas of services design, 
innovations, marketing, and operations, logistics, and the role of 
informatics towards improving their efficiency. 

The theme for the conference is Services Quality, Speed, and Vision, 
promoting effective Services and Logistics in support of 2010 World Expo. 
Papers relating to Services Design, Innovations, Marketing, Operations, and 
Engineering, and Logistics are especially solicited.

Topics include, but are not limited to:

Services Design, Engineering, Operations, and Innovations - Services 
planning; Services process engineering; Expedited services and extreme 
logistics; Metrics and benchmarks; Healthcare systems; Security & safety 
services and management; Contingency planning; Retail and services 
management;  Quality and Satisfaction; Waste management

Logistics & Supply Chain Management - On-demand delivery; Logistics 
planning; Freight forwarding and customs clearance; Venue logistics 
management; Warehouse and distribution; Transportation management system; 
Reverse logistics; Supplier relationship management; Logistics visibility 
and control; Procurement; Simulation

Services Marketing and Sustaining - Demand forecasting; Customer 
relationship management; Event communication; Services training; Services 
sustaining; Services quality; Public relations 

Services (Events) Management & Manufacturing - Event management system; 
Event sponsorship; Event-based production and supply chain; Event-based 
products and manufacturing; Intelligent manufacturing; Customization

Communications & Information Systems -Communications & information systems; 
Process augmentation and automation; Real time identification & tracking 
technology; Pervasive and ubiquitous computing in logistics; Software agent 
based systems in logistics; Decision support system; RFID; Data warehousing 
and data mining; Systems integration

Paper Submission:

Complete manuscripts in PDF must be electronically submitted to the 
conference website: 
TUhttp://www.ssglobal.org/2006UT. Submitted manuscripts should be six (6) 
pages in IEEE two-column format, including figures, tables, and references. 
A LaTeX style file and a Microsoft Word template are available from the IEEE 
web site (http://www.ieee.org/pubs/transactions/stylesheets.xml). However, 
submission MUST be in PDF.

Important Dates:
Feb. 1, 2006: Deadline for submission of full papers.
Mar.1, 2006: Acceptance/Rejection notification.
Apr. 1, 2006: Final camera-ready papers due in electronic form.

Web site: click here

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

2006 IEEE CCA/CACSD/ISIC
Munich, Germany
October 4 - 6, 2006

IEEE International Conference on Control Applications  
IEEE International Symposium on Computer-Aided Control Systems Design 
IEEE International Symposium on Intelligent Control 

The 2006 CCA/CACSD/ISIC will take place on October 4-6 2006, in the city of
Munich (Germany) and will bring together experts from different areas to
discuss the state-of-the-art in control technology and to present new 
research results and perspectives on future developments with respect to 
control system design and applications.

The 2006 CCA/CACSD/ISIC is sponsored by The Institute of Electrical and
Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Control Systems Society (CSS), and organized in
cooperation with the European Union Control Association (EUCA) and the 
Society of Instrument and Control Engineers, Japan (SICE).
The technical sessions of the conference will be hosted by one of the 
foremost universities in Germany, the Technical University of Munich.

For complete information about the conference visit
http://www.elet.polimi.it/conferences/cca06/

HIGHLIGHTS
Plenary speakers:
CCA - Prof. Brian DO Anderson, Australian National University
CACSD - Prof.  Jan Maciejowski, University of Cambridge
ISIC -	Prof. Thomas Parisini, Universita' di Trieste
CACSD Keynote Lecture: Cleve Moler / Pascal Gahinet (Mathworks)

RESEARCH TOPICS
CCA
aerospace, automotive, marine systems
agricultural systems
biomedical, chemical, pharmaceutical processes
mining, metals processing, power systems
structures, robotic manipulators, mechatronics
telecommunications, transport communications
mathematical modeling and system identification
control system implementation issues
integrated control and supervision
fuzzy and neural control, Petri nets

CACSD
architectures and environments for systems analysis and design
modeling and simulation
hybrid systems
novel algorithms for CACSD
design and verification of control logic
real-time systems design and implementation
tools for industrial controller design, monitoring and tuning
computer-based teaching environments
CACSD applications and case studies

ISIC
intelligent control architectures and methods
reactive multi-agent systems machine learning
neural networks, fuzzy logic, genetic algorithms
hybrid dynamical systems control, pattern discovery
distributed or decentralized control methods
probabilistic approaches, knowledge-based sensor fusion
distributed and embedded systems, large scale systems
AI and expert systems, distributed intelligence

Paper submissions will be handled electronically through the IEEE conference
management system at http://www.paperplaza.net. Please refer to the 
conference web site for the most up-to-date information about the 
conferences. The program Committees also solicit proposals for invited 
sessions and tutorial workshops within the technical scope of the 
conferences.

KEY DATES
Paper/Invited session/Workshop proposal: January 29, 2006
Workshop acceptance/rejection notification: March 31, 2006
Paper acceptance/rejection notification: April 15, 2006
Final manuscript submission deadline: May 19, 2006
Best student-paper award nominations: June 5, 2006

GENERAL CHAIR: Andras Varga, German Aerospace Center (DLR), Germany
PROGRAM CHAIR (CCA): Martin Buss, Technical University Munich, Germany
PROGRAM CHAIR (CACSD): Christian Schmid, University of Bochum, Germany
PROGRAM CHAIR (ISIC): Derong Liu, University of Illinois at Chicago, USA

Web site: click here

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

12TH IFAC SYMPOSIUM ON INFORMATION CONTROL PROBLEMS IN MANUFACTURING
Saint-Etienne, France
May 17 - 19, 2006

About the conference 
INCOM is a triennal symposium organized by IFAC and mainly sponsored by the 
IFAC Technical Committee 5.1 on Manufacturing Plant Control and co-sponsored 
by 11 other IFAC Technical Committees, and by IFIP, IFORS, IEEE, IMS, etc. 
Recent editions of the symposium were held in Salvador de Bahia (2004), 
Vienna (2001), Nancy (1998), and in Beijing (1995).
The purpose of the IFAC Symposium on INFORMATION CONTROL PROBLEMS IN 
MANUFACTURING (INCOM'06) is to offer a forum to present the progress in 
international research and development work in this field. Special emphasis 
will be given on the applications of optimization methods as well as 
automation, information and communication technologies in the control of the 
manufacturing plant and the entire supply chain within the e-enterprise.
The symposium will stress the scientific challenges and issues raised by the 
Intelligent Manufacturing System and Supply Chain paradigms for optimization 
and agile digital control of the entire production system. The whole product 
and processes life cycle will be covered, from the design, through the 
manufacturing and maintenance, to the distribution and service.

Main sponsor:
IFAC Technical Committee 5.1 on Manufacturing Plant Control.

Co-Sponsors:
IFAC Technical Committees:
TC 1.3 on Discrete Event Dynamic Systems.
TC 2.4 on Optimal Control.
TC 3.3 on Computers and Telematics.
TC 4.1 on Components and Instruments.
TC 4.2 on Mechatronic Systems.
TC 4.4 on Cost Oriented Automation.
TC 4.5 on Human Machine Systems.
TC 5.2 on Manufacturing Modelling for Management and Control.
TC 5.3 on Enterprise Integration and Networking.
TC 5.4 on Large Scale Complex Systems.
TC 9.2 on Social Impact of Automation.

Scientific topics:
e-Solutions to Plan and to Design Manufacturing Systems
Facilities Planning and Materials Handling
Inventory Control, Production Planning and Scheduling
Monitoring, Diagnosis and Maintenance of Manufacturing Systems
Web-enabled Manufacturing Control and Wireless Automation
Process Modeling and Information Systems within the Extended Enterprise
Information Management for the Net-entreprise
Socio-technical and Cognitive Aspects of Automation
Intelligent Manufacturing Systems Modeling and Applications
Distributed Systems and Multi-agents Technologies
Discrete Event Systems Simulation in Manufacturing
Operational Research Applications in CAD/CAM/CAE

Submission of papers
INCOM'06 offers 3 modes of submission: 
*	Paper for a Special Track. Articles for this category must indicate 
clearly the Track for which this paper is destined. So, when we use the 
online submission system, designate the name of Track. Dead line, November 
15th, 2005.
  
*	Paper for a Special Session. Articles for this category must 
indicate clearly the Special Session for which this paper is destined. So, 
when we use the online submission system, designate the name of Session. 
Dead line, November 15th, 2005.
  
*	Regular paper. If you can not find a Special Track or Session, but 
you consider that your article correspond to the Scope and Topics of 
INCOM'06, you can still submit this paper as a regular paper using the 
online submission system. Dead line, November 15th, 2005. 

Important dates: 
*	Deadline for all type of submission > November 15, 2005 
*	Notification of paper acceptance/rejection > January 6, 2006 
*	Deadline for final version > March 1, 2006 

Regular papers (6 pages in IFAC double column format) as well as plenary and 
survey papers (12 pages in IFAC double column format) will be reviewed by at 
least two referees. As to regular papers, both academic and industrial 
oriented communications will be considered. Industrial and scientific 
contributions will be compiled into several volumes of INCOM06's 
proceedings. Further submission instructions are available on the website.

Web site: click here

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

THE 17TH IASTED INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON MODELLING AND SIMULATION (MS
2006)
Montreal, Canada
May 24 - 26, 2006

SPONSORS
- The International Association of Science and Technology for Development
(IASTED), Technical Committee on Modelling and Simulation
- World Modelling and Simulation Forum – WMSF

CONFERENCE CHAIR
Dr. René Wamkeue - University of Quebec, Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Canada

KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Dr. I. Kamwa - Hydro-Quebec, Canada

PURPOSE
The IASTED International Conference on Modelling and Simulation (MS 2006) will
act as a major forum for international researchers and practitioners
interested in all areas of modelling and simulation. It will be an opportunity
to present and observe the latest research, results, and ideas in these areas.
All papers submitted to this conference will be peer evaluated by at least two
reviewers. Acceptance will be based primarily on originality and contribution.

MS 2006 will be held in conjunction with the IASTED International Conference
on Control and Applications (CA 2006). 

Scope: see web page for list.

IMPORTANT DEADLINES
Submissions: Due January 15, 2006 
Notification of Acceptance: February 15, 2006 
Final Manuscripts Due: 	March 15, 2006 
Registration Deadline:	April 1, 2006

Web site: click here

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

THE 15TH IASTED INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON APPLIED SIMULATION AND MODELLING
(ASM 2006)
Rhodes, Greece
June 26 - 28, 2006

SPONSORS
- The International Association of Science and Technology for Development
(IASTED), Technical Committee on Modelling and Simulation
- World Modelling and Simulation Forum (WMSF)

PURPOSE
The IASTED International Conference on Applied Simulation and Modelling will
provide an international forum for researchers and practitioners to exchange
new ideas and practical experience in the areas of simulation and modelling.
It is an opportunity to present and observe the latest research, results, and
ideas in these areas. ASM 2006 aims to strengthen relations between industry
practitioners, 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

ASM 2006 will be held in conjunction with the IASTED International Conference
on Power and Energy Systems (EuroPES 2006). 

Scope: see website.

IMPORTANT DEADLINES
Submissions Due: February 1 , 2006 
Notification of Acceptance: March 1, 2006 
Final Manuscripts Due: April 1, 2006 
Registration Deadline: April 15, 2006

Web site: click here

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

THE SIXTH IASTED INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON MODELLING, SIMULATION, AND
OPTIMIZATION (MSO 2006)
Gaborone, Botswana
September 11 - 13, 2006

SPONSORS
- The International Association of Science and Technology for Development
(IASTED), Technical Committee on Modelling and Simulation, and
Technical Committee on Optimization
- World Modelling and Simulation Forum (WMSF)

CONFERENCE CHAIR
Prof. H. Nyongesa - University of Botswana, Botswana

LOCAL ARRANGEMENTS CHAIR
Prof. George O. Anderson - University of Botswana, Botswana

OFFICIAL OPENING
Official opening by the Honourable Minister of Communications, Science and
Technology.

HOST ORGANIZATION
University of Botswana

 PURPOSE
This conference is an international forum for researchers and practitioners
interested in the advances in and applications of modelling, simulation and
optimization. It is an opportunity to present and observe the latest research,
results, and ideas in these areas. All papers submitted to this conference
will be peer evaluated by at least two reviewers. Acceptance will be based
primarily on originality and contribution.

MSO 2006 will be held in conjunction with the IASTED International Conference
on: Power, Energy and Applications (PEA 2006)

LOCATION
Botswana has been called an “oasis of peace and tranquility” on the African
continent. It has a history of political stability, a low crime rate, and is
one of Africa’s most successful economies. Botswana is about the size of
France or Kenya, but its low population density has ensured that its beautiful
wilderness has remained unspoiled. Botswana is also home to 120,000 migrant
elephants – the largest elephant population in the world. The Kalahari Desert
covers 84% of the country, yet in the midst of this desert is the world’s
largest inland delta. The Okavango Delta is a breathtaking labyrinth of
lagoons, lakes, and hidden channels covering an area of 17000 km^2. There you
will find the Moremi Game Reserve, with forests, floodplains and lagoons that
offer spectacular glimpses of a huge diversity of plant and animal life,
including lions, buffalo, crocodiles, and leopards.

SCOPE: see website.

SPECIAL SESSION
"Non-Distributed Operating Systems Optimization"
organized by Dr. Yair Wiseman, Bar-Ilan University, Israel 

IMPORTANT DEADLINES
Submissions Due: March 15, 2006 
Notification of Acceptance: May 1, 2006 
Final Manuscripts Due: June 1, 2006 
Registration Deadline: June 15, 2006

Web site: click here

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

SELECTIONS FROM IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON AUTOMATIC CONTROL
VOLUME 50, ISSUE 9
SEPTEMBER, 2005

1) Stability analysis of discontinuous dynamical systems determined by
semigroups

Michel, A.N.; Ye Sun; Molchanov, A.P.

Abstract

We present Lyapunov stability results for discontinuous dynamical systems
(DDS) determined by linear and nonlinear semigroups defined on Banach space.
DDS of the type considered herein arise in the modeling of a variety of
finite- and infinite-dimensional systems, including certain classes of hybrid
systems, discrete-event systems, switched systems, systems subjected to
impulse effects, and the like. We apply our results in the analysis of
several important specific classes of DDS.

2) Hierarchical interface-based supervisory Control-part I: serial case

Leduc, R.J.    Brandin, B.A.	Lawford, M.    Wonham, W.M.   

Abstract

In this paper, we present a hierarchical method that decomposes a system into
two subsystems, and restricts the interaction of the subsystems by means of
an interface. We present definitions for two types of interfaces [represented as
discrete-event systems (DESs)], and define a set of interface consistency
properties that can be used to verify if a DES is nonblocking and
controllable. Each clause of the definitions can be verified using only one
of the two subsystems; thus, the complete system model never needs to be
constructed, offering potentially significant savings in computational
effort. Additionally, the development of clean interfaces facilitates reuse
of the
component subsystems. Finally, we examine a simple example to illustrate the
method.

3) Hierarchical interface-based supervisory control-part II: parallel case

Hierarchical interface-based supervisory control-part II: parallel case

Abstract

In this paper, we present a hierarchical method that decomposes a
discrete-event system (DES) into a high-level subsystem which communicates
with n/spl ges/1 parallel low-level subsystems, through separate interfaces
which restrict the interaction of the subsystems. It is a generalization of
the serial case (n=1) described in Part I of this paper, where we define an
interface and a set of interface consistency properties that can be used to
verify if a DES is nonblocking and controllable. Each clause of the
definition can be verified using a single subsystem; thus the complete system
model never needs to be stored in memory, offering potentially significant 
savings in computational resources. We provide algorithms for verifying these
new properties, and briefly discuss the computational complexity of the method.
Finally, we present an application to a large manufacturing example with an
estimated worst-case closed-loop state-space size of 2.9 times 10^21.

4) Optimality of static control policies in some discrete-event systems

Lei Miao    Cassandras, C.G.   

Abstract

We consider a class of discrete-event systems (DES) that involves the control
of resources allocated to tasks under real-time constraints. This is
motivated by power-limited wireless environments such as sensor networks, where 
the objective is to minimize energy consumption while guaranteeing that task
deadlines are always met. In obtaining optimal offline controllers for such
systems, we prove that simple static control gives the unique optimal
solution. The result is of interest because it asserts the optimality of a
simple controller that does not require any data collection or processing in
environments where the cost of such actions is high.

Web site: click here

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

IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
VOL. 31, NO.9
SEPTEMBER, 2005

1) Automated Aspect-Oriented Decomposition of Process-Control Systems for
Ultra-High Dependability Assurance 

Dongfeng Wang, Farokh B. Bastani, I.-Ling Yen

Abstract

This paper presents a method for decomposing process-control systems. This
decomposition method is automated, meaning that a series of principles that
can be evolved to support automated tools are given to help a designer
decompose complex systems into a collection of simpler components. Each
component resulting from the decomposition process can be designed and
implemented independently of the other components. Also, these components can
be tested or verified by the end-user independently of each other. Moreover,
the system properties, such as safety, stability, and reliability, can be
mathematically inferred from the properties of the individual components.
These components are referred to as IDEAL (Independently Developable End-user
Assessable Logical) components. This decomposition method is applied to a case
study specified by the High-Integrity Systems group at Sandia National Labs,
which involves the control of a future version of the Bay Area Rapid Transit
(BART) system.

Web site: click here

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

SELECTIONS FROM AUTOMATICA
VOLUME:41 ISSUE:11
NOVEMBER, 2005

1) Syntax-based synthesis for temporal-safety supervision

Kiam Tian Seow

Abstract

This paper presents a supremal-control generalization of a temporal version 
of supervisory control for temporal-safety in discrete-event systems. The 
generalization is an outcome of the development of a temporal logic 
equations approach formulated using unary transformer concepts borrowed 
mainly from the predicate and predicate transform theory of Dijkstra and 
Scholten. The proposed syntax-based approach has not hitherto been formally 
augmented to the temporal logic framework, and is shown to parallel and to 
generalize the boolean equations approach proposed in the existing predicate 
control theory of Kumar, Garg and Marcus. A detailed example, which cannot 
be handled by the existing predicate control theory, demonstrates how the 
natural language basis of temporal logic for requirement specification and 
syntax-based control synthesis can be unified in a common logic framework.

Web site: click here

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

SELECTIONS FROM IEEE SYSTEMS, MAN AND CYBERNETICS - PART B: CYBERNETICS
VOLUME: 35 ISSUE 5
OCTOBER, 2005

1)On the Verification of Intransitive Noninterference in Mulitlevel Security

BenHadj-Alouane, N.   Lafrance, S.   Lin, F.   Mullins, J.   Yeddes, M.M.  

Abstract

We propose an algorithmic approach to the problem of verification of the 
property of intransitive noninterference (INI), using tools and concepts of 
discrete event systems (DES). INI can be used to characterize and solve 
several important security problems in multilevel security systems. In a 
previous work, we have established the notion of iP-observability, which 
precisely captures the property of INI. We have also developed an algorithm 
for checking iP-observability by indirectly checking P-observability for 
systems with at most three security levels. In this paper, we generalize the 
results for systems with any finite number of security levels by developing 
a direct method for checking iP-observability, based on an insightful 
observation that the iP function is a left congruence in terms of relations 
on formal languages. To demonstrate the applicability of our approach, we 
propose a formal method to detect denial of service vulnerabilities in 
security protocols based on INI. This method is illustrated using the TCP/IP 
protocol. The work extends the theory of supervisory control of DES to a new 
application domain.

Web site: click here

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

SELECTIONS FROM IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON AUTOMATION SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
VOLUME:2 ISSUE:4
OCTOBER, 2005

1) Complex-Valued Token Petri Nets

Desrochers, A.A.; Deal, T.J.; Fanti, M.P.

Abstract
This paper presents a new extension to ordinary Petri nets (PNs) that uses 
complex-valued tokens. By allowing two kinds of tokens, "real" 
and "imaginary," each place marking contains both quantity and type 
information. Complex-valued token PNs were designed to integrate seamlessly 
with other popular Petri net extensions such as timed nets, stochastic nets, 
and colored nets. This simple and intuitive application of complex numbers 
and complex arithmetic to PNs provides a unique modeling tool. Some examples 
show the capabilities of this proposed class of PNs. 

Note to Practitioners
Discrete-event systems are often man-made systems such as transportation 
systems, computer communication networks, distributed software, and 
manufacturing systems. They typically involve the flow of information and 
physical goods through a network. The flow itself evolves in continuous time 
but the initiation or completion of the event happens at a discrete point in 
time. Analyzing the system's performance is key to their successful 
operation. This paper presents a new approach to performance analysis with 
application to supply-chain management.

2) An Extended Event Graph With Negative Places and Tokens for Time Window 
Constraints

Lee, T.-E.; Park, S.-H.

Abstract
We introduce places with negative holding times and tokens with negative 
token counts into a timed event graph in order to model and analyze time 
window constraints. We extend the enabling and firing rules for such an 
extended event graph named a negative event graph (NEG). We develop 
necessary and sufficient conditions based on the circuits for which the NEG 
is live, that is, an infinite sequence of feasible firing epochs exist for 
each transition. We prove that the minimum cycle time is the same as the 
maximum circuit ratio of the circuits with positive token counts. We also 
show that when there exists circuits with negative token counts, the maximum 
cycle time is bounded and the same as the minimum circuit ratio of such 
circuits. A scheduling example for a robot-based cluster tool with wafer 
residency time constraints for semiconductor manufacturing is explained.

Note to Practitioners
Scheduling and control problems for modern man-made systems, including 
automated manufacturing systems such as cluster tools for semiconductor 
manufacturing, microcircuits, and real-time software systems, are usually 
modeled as discrete event systems. Such systems often have strict time 
constraints on timings of some events. Our results can be used for 
identifying whether there can be a feasible schedule that satisfies all time 
constraints, computing the range of the feasible cycle times, and 
determining a steady schedule with the minimum cycle time. By using the 
feasibility condition, we also can accommodate the system configuration, the 
task times, and the task sequence so that the system can satisfy the time 
constraints while meeting the target cycle time. Such practice is already 
used for real cluster tool engineering. We have more results on implementing 
a real-time scheduler and controller for time constrained systems. 

3) Control of Markov Chains With Safety Bounds

Arapostathis, A.; Kumar, R.; Hsu, S.P.

Abstract
In an earlier paper, the authors introduced the notion of safety control of 
stochastic discrete event systems (DESs), modeled as controlled Markov 
chains. Safety was specified as an upper bound on the components of the 
state probability distribution, and the class of irreducible and aperiodic 
Markov chains were analyzed relative to this safety criterion. Under the 
assumption of complete state observations: 1) the authors identified the set 
of all state-feedback controllers that enforce the safety specification, for 
all safe initial probability distributions and 2) for any given state-
feedback controller, the authors constructed the maximal invariant safe set 
(MISS). In this paper, the authors extend the work in several ways: 1) 
safety is specified in terms of both upper and lower bounds; 2) we consider 
a larger class of Markov chains that includes reducible and periodic chains; 
3) we present a more general iterative algorithm for computing the MISS, 
which is quite flexible in its initialization; 4) we obtain an explicit 
upper bound for the number of iterations needed for the algorithm to 
terminate. 

Note to Practitioners
The paper studies "safety" control of stochastic systems modeled as Markov 
chains. Safety is defined as a requirement that the probability distribution 
in each state remain bounded between an upper and a lower bound. For 
example, a financial investment policy should be such that the probability 
of ever being bankrupt is bounded below by a positive number. Prior works on 
control of Markov chains have addressed optimality but not safety. A 
condition is obtained under which a controlled Markov chain is guaranteed to 
be safe at all times. For those chains that do not satisfy such a condition, 
a maximal subset of the safe set of distributions is computed so that if the 
chain is initialized with a distribution in that maximal subset, it remains 
safe all the times. A condition is obtained under which such a maximal set 
is nonempty. The computation of such a maximal set is iterative and we 
provide a condition under which the computation terminates in a finite 
number of iterations. Manufacturing system examples are included to 
illustrate the results.

Web site: click here

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

SELECTIONS FROM IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON AUTOMATIC CONTROL
VOLUME: 50, ISSUE: 10
OCTOBER, 2005

1) A Bayesian Approach to Identification of Hybrid Systems

 Juloski, A.Lj.; Weiland, S.; Heemels, W.P.M.H.

In this paper, we present a novel procedure for the identification of hybrid
systems in the class of piecewise ARX systems. The presented method
facilitates the use of available a priori knowledge on the system to be
identified, but can also be used as a black-box method. We treat the unknown
parameters as random variables, described by their probability density
functions. The identification problem is posed as the problem of computing the
a posteriori probability density function of the model parameters, and
subsequently relaxed until a practically implementable method is obtained. A
particle filtering method is used for a numerical implementation of the
proposed procedure. A modified version of the multicategory robust linear
programming classification procedure, which uses the information derived in
the previous steps of the identification algorithm, is used for estimating the
partition of the piecewise ARX map. The proposed procedure is applied for the
identification of a component placement process in pick-and-place machines.

Web site: click here

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

DISCRETE EVENT DYNAMIC SYSTEMS, THEORY AND APPLICATIONS
VOLUME 15, NUMBER 4
DECEMBER, 2005

1) An Equivalent CTL Formulation for Condition Sequences

 Jeffrey Ashley and Lawrence E. Holloway

Abstract: 

A condition system is a form of Petri net that interacts with other condition
systems and the environment via state-based signals called conditions. The
condition language framework has been used in previous papers to characterize
the input/output behavior of such interacting systems, as well as to specify
desired control behavior among other things. In this paper, we show that
condition sequences (the specification) and condition systems (the model of
the system) have an equivalent structure in the computation tree logic (CTL)
framework. The primary goals of this work are to be able to utilize existing
tools for program verification for our systems, and to make our work more
accessible to the temporal logic community.

2)  Control of Safe Ordinary Petri Nets Using Unfolding

 Alessandro Giua and Xiaolan Xie

Abstract:

In this paper we deal with the problem of controlling a safe place/transition
net so as to avoid a set of forbidden markings	$${\user1{\mathcal{F}}}$$ .
We
say that a given set of markings has property REACH if it is closed under the
reachability operator. We assume that all transitions of the net are
controllable and that the set of forbidden markings 
$${\user1{\mathcal{F}}}$$
 has the property REACH.
The technique of unfolding is used to design a maximally permissive
supervisor
to solve this control problem. The supervisor takes the form of a set of
control places to be added to the unfolding of the original net.
The approach is also extended to the problem of preventing a larger set
$${\user1{\mathcal{F}}}_{I}$$ of impending forbidden marking. This is a
superset of the forbidden markings that also includes all those markings from
which, unless the supervisor blocks the plant, a marking in
$${\user1{\mathcal{F}}}$$ is inevitably reached in a finite number of steps.
Finally, we consider the particular case in which the control objective is
that of designing a maximally permissive supervisor for deadlock avoidance
and
we show that in this particular case our procedure can be efficiently
implemented by means of linear algebraic techniques.

3) Multitasking Supervisory Control of Discrete-Event Systems

 Max H. Queiroz, Jose E. R. Cury, W. M. Wonham

Abstract:

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.

4) A Supervisory Control Method for Ensuring the Conformance of Real-Time
Discrete Event Systems

Ahmed Khoumsi

 In this article, we study the problem of controlling a plant described as a
real-time discrete event system. The aimed objective is to ensure a
conformance relation denoted tioco between the plant and the formal
specification of the system, by means of a supervisor. We adopt a two-step
approach. In Step 1, we express the problem into a non-real-time form, by
using a transformation of timed automata (TA) into particular finite state
automata called Set-Exp-Automata (SEA). The latter use two additional types
of
events, Set and Exp. And in Step 2, we propose a non-real-time control method
suitable for SEA. We also propose a control architecture.

5) Optimal Control of Switching Surfaces in Hybrid Dynamical Systems

M. Boccadoro, Y. Wardi, M. Egerstedt, E. Verriest

Abstract:

This paper concerns an optimal control problem defined on a class of
switched-mode hybrid dynamical systems. The system's mode is changed
(switched) whenever the state variable crosses a certain surface in the state
space, henceforth called a switching surface. These switching surfaces are
parameterized by finite-dimensional vectors called the switching parameters.
The optimal control problem is to minimize a cost functional, defined on the
state trajectory, as a function of the switching parameters. The paper
derives
the gradient of the cost functional in a costate-based formula that reflects
the special structure of hybrid systems. It then uses the formula in a
gradient-descent algorithm for solving an obstacle-avoidance problem in
robotics.

Web site: click here

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

SELECTIONS FROM IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON SYSTEMS, MAN, AND CYBERNETICS - PART A:
SYSTEMS AND HUMANS
VOLUME:35 ISSUE:6
NOVEMBER, 2005

1) On the Analysis of Some Structural Properties of Petri Nets

Bouyekhf, R.; ElMoudni, A.

Abstract
Some structural properties of a general Petri net (PN) are considered. The 
paper endeavors to improve the link between PNs, the theory of matrix 
analysis, and linear inequalities. Necessary and/or sufficient conditions 
for consistency, conservativeness, boundedness, and repetitiveness are given 
in terms of certain determinants of the incidence matrix of the net. 
Besides, when the incidence matrix is square, theorems are derived in terms 
of the modified-incidence-matrix eigenvalues and, thus, inherently reduce 
the state space explosion problem. Examples are worked out to illustrate the 
results.

2) Enumeration Algorithms for Minimal Siphons in Petri Nets Based on Place 
Constraints

Cordone, R.; Ferrarini, L.; Piroddi, L.

Abstract
The paper addresses the problem of enumerating minimal siphons in an 
ordinary Petri net. The algorithms developed in this work recursively use a 
problem partitioning procedure to reduce the original search problem to 
multiple simpler search subproblems. Each subproblem has specific additional 
place constraints with respect to the original problem. Some results on 
algorithm correctness, convergence, and computational complexity are 
provided, as well as an experimental evaluation of performance. The 
algorithms can be applied to enumerate minimal, place-minimal siphons, or 
even siphons that are minimal with respect to given subsets of places.

Web site: click here