README

UPDATE 2011-02-14:
The branch 'new_type2_spec' is merged back to Master.

UPDATE:
I just created a new branch 'new_type2_spec' to also allow controllable events to be put in
the type 2 spec (See chapter 4.1 for detail. Oringially only uncontrollable events were allowed
in that type of spec). This is in response to this issue raised by rolfth: 
  http://github.com/chuanma/STSLib/issues#issue/2
I'd appreciate that you may try it and report any bug. Thanks!  

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It has been a while since I introduced state-based State Tree Structure (STS) framework for the
Supervisory Control Theory (SCT).  You might have some basic knowledge about SCT, or you might 
have already known a lot about the STS framework.  I made bold claim that this framework was
great at attacking large DES systems. I mean it!  To back up my statement, I decide to make this 
library open source. So researchers can have the free(dom) to use this library for whatever 
purpose they want.

The beauty of STS framework is, even though the underlying details seem complex, the resulting
synthesis can be summarized by a couple of clean and short formulas. If you happened to have
read my Ph.D. thesis, or the book, "Nonblocking Supervisory Control of State Tree Structures", 
you may notice that I used the same symbols in my C++ classes to implement the concepts in 
my thesis. It just works!

There are certain parts I'd like to improve. For example, the current lib only supports STS and 
specifications in an ad-hoc format. An XML format will be a much better choice. I also like to 
see a BDD-to-IDD (Integer Decision Diagram) conversion class to make the resulting control functions 
easier to be understood. At last, the core bdd synthesis procedure can be improved.


Go to STSLib directory to find out how to install the library in your computer.