Distributed Nonblocking Supervisory Control of Timed Discrete-Event Systems with Communication Delays and Losses

Abstract: This paper investigates the problem of distributed nonblocking supervisory control for timed discrete-event systems (DESs). The distributed supervisors communicate with each other over networks subject to nondeterministic communication delays and losses. Given that the delays are counted by time, techniques have been developed to model the dynamics of the communication channels. By incorporating the dynamics of the communication channels into the system model, we construct a communication automaton to model the interaction process between the supervisors. Based on the communication automaton, we define the observation mappings for the supervisors, which consider delays and losses occurring in the communication channels. Then, we derive the necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of a set of supervisors for distributed nonblocking supervisory control. These conditions are expressed as network controllability, network joint observability, and system language closure. Finally, an example of intelligent manufacturing is provided to show the application of the proposed framework.