An interface to support real-time distributed control

In this paper, we investigate how the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 61499 model for real-time distributed control can be interfaced with higher-level agents. In particular, we focus on two approaches: (1) data-table, and (2) function block adapters. The function block adapter approach shows considerable promise given its close fit with the IEC 61499 model and its use of the Unified Modeling Language.