Non-Blocking Optimal Control and Scheduling of Multi-Entry and Multi-Outlet Serial Production Lines

This paper investigates the non-blocking optimal control and scheduling problems of multi-entry and multi-outlet serial production lines with the finite serial buffers. We develop the state equation and the optimal control law of the production lines. We also carry out the system performance analysis using the matrix row-difference monotonic theory in the sense of max-algebra. The optimal scheduling problem of the system is also solved