A shared-medium communication architecture for distributed discrete event systems

Recently, several efficient supervisor synthesis approaches for distributed discrete event systems (DES) have been established. In this paper, the implementation of such supervisors on interacting distributed programmable logic controllers (PLCs) on a network is considered for the hierarchical and decentralized control approach elaborated in our previous work. A communication model that captures the controller behavior relevant for communication is developed, and a network architecture together with a scheduling policy that ensures correct operation of the networked controllers is proposed. In addition to the formal statements, simulation results for an example system are presented.