Generalizing Discrete-Event System Control Problems to Optimal Control

Conventional supervisory control of discrete-event systems (DESs), opacity enforcement of DESs, and optimal control of DESs are broadly viewed in existing literature as distinct classes of problems. In this light, a novel class of optimal control problems for discrete-event systems (DESs) is proposed. Comparisons are made to the existing optimal control framework of Sengupta and Lafortune [1] and the design decisions behind such problem formulations are discussed. It is shown that two known control problems in DES-the minimally-restrictive enforcement of a legal sublanguage and of current-state opacity with respect to an observer-can be recast as instances of the novel problem.