Information control in networked discrete event systems and its application to battery management systems

Opacity is an important property in control of information flow among networked agents. In this paper, we investigate information control problems in networked discrete event systems using opacity. In a networked discrete event system, communication among agents is via a shared communication network. Since delays and losses are unavoidable in networked discrete event systems, they must be considered in investigating opacity. We call opacity under communication delays and losses network opacity. We first define three network opacities: strong network opacity, weak network opacity, and network non-opacity. We derive necessary and sufficient conditions for network opacities and develop methods to check network opacities. We then apply network opacity to solve a problem in battery management systems.