Modular control and coordination of discrete-event systems

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