227-0102-00L  Discrete Event Systems

SemesterAutumn Semester 2018
LecturersL. Thiele, L. Vanbever, R. Wattenhofer
Periodicityyearly recurring course
Language of instructionEnglish


AbstractIntroduction to discrete event systems. We start out by studying popular models of discrete event systems. In the second part of the course we analyze discrete event systems from an average-case and from a worst-case perspective. Topics include: Automata and Languages, Specification Models, Stochastic Discrete Event Systems, Worst-Case Event Systems, Verification, Network Calculus.
ObjectiveOver the past few decades the rapid evolution of computing, communication, and information technologies has brought about the proliferation of new dynamic systems. A significant part of activity in these systems is governed by operational rules designed by humans. The dynamics of these systems are characterized by asynchronous occurrences of discrete events, some controlled (e.g. hitting a keyboard key, sending a message), some not (e.g. spontaneous failure, packet loss).

The mathematical arsenal centered around differential equations that has been employed in systems engineering to model and study processes governed by the laws of nature is often inadequate or inappropriate for discrete event systems. The challenge is to develop new modeling frameworks, analysis techniques, design tools, testing methods, and optimization processes for this new generation of systems.

In this lecture we give an introduction to discrete event systems. We start out the course by studying popular models of discrete event systems, such as automata and Petri nets. In the second part of the course we analyze discrete event systems. We first examine discrete event systems from an average-case perspective: we model discrete events as stochastic processes, and then apply Markov chains and queuing theory for an understanding of the typical behavior of a system. In the last part of the course we analyze discrete event systems from a worst-case perspective using the theory of online algorithms and adversarial queuing.
Content1. Introduction
2. Automata and Languages
3. Smarter Automata
4. Specification Models
5. Stochastic Discrete Event Systems
6. Worst-Case Event Systems
7. Network Calculus
Lecture notesAvailable
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