Partial Synchronization of Interconnected Boolean Networks

This paper addresses the partial synchronization problem for the interconnected Boolean networks (BNs) via the semi-tensor product (STP) of matrices. First, based on an algebraic state space representation of BNs, a necessary and sufficient criterion is presented to ensure the partial synchronization of the interconnected BNs. Second, by defining an induced digraph of the partial synchronized states set, an equivalent graphical description for the partial synchronization of the interconnected BNs is established. Consequently, the second partial synchronization criterion is derived in terms of adjacency matrix of the induced digraph. Finally, two examples (including an epigenetic model) are provided to illustrate the efficiency of the obtained results.