Know means no: Incorporating knowledge into discrete-event control systems

Modal logic is introduced into the modeling of discrete-event systems. Analysis within this framework includes formal reasoning about what supervisors know or do not know about a given system. This model can be used to develop control strategies that solve decentralized discrete-event control problems. When a problem cannot be solved using fully decentralized supervisors, reasoning about knowledge may provide guidelines for incorporating communication and pooled information into the model.