Information and Telecommunication Intellectual

Monitoring Technology and System for Complex

Technical Objects under Dynamic Conditions

in Real Time

Michael Yu. Okhtilev, Boris V. Sokolov, Alexey V. Vinel and Eugene M. Zaichik

St.-Petersburg Institute for Informatics and Automation

39, 14th Line, Spiiran, St. Petersburg, 199178, Russia

Abstract. The aim of the investigation is to develop methods, models and algo-

rithms of synthesis and intellectualization of monitoring technology and system

oriented to concurrent on-line user software assurance for all sorts of measuring

information specifying states of complex technical objects under dynamic con-

ditions in real time. This aim should be achieved by here suggested artificial in-

telligent information technology. The basis of this artificial intelligent informa-

tion technology is flow computing models exploitable by state hipping (con-

straint programming) in real time and in territorially distributed computing

network. At the same time each network node represents artificial intelligent

agent. Furthermore, the problem of efficient information transmission between

the complex technical objects and monitoring systems by means of contempo-

rary wireless technologies is considered.

1 Introduction

Many complex technical objects (CTO) are remotely controlled [1, 2, 3]. Operators

(dispatchers) receive information about current CTO states in a form of telemetry.

Complication of modern technical objects is resulted in expansion of their parameters

to be measured and controlled. Today the number of such parameters can achieve

several hundreds or thousands for various classes of technical systems [4, 5]. Usually

CTO state monitoring is not automatized completely. Thus, operators receive seman-

tic information about some elements of CTO rather than information characterizing

integral CTO state. To estimate CTO state the operators should be able to analyze

various context conditions of interaction between CTO elements and subsystems.

There are no universal methods and technologies for solution of the above-mentioned

problems [6, 7]. Existing program systems for gathering, processing, and analysis of

CTO telemetry usually depend on characteristics of particular control objects and is

This work is supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research projects № 07-07-00169, 08-08-

00403, 09-07-00066, Russian Humanitarian Scientific Foundation 09-01-12105, Department of Nano-

technologies and Information Technologies – Project 2.3.

Alexey Vinel acknowledges the support of Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.

Okhtilev M., Sokolov B., Vinel A. and Zaichik E. (2009).

Information and Telecommunication Intellectual Monitoring Technology and System for Complex Technical Objects under Dynamic Conditions in Real

Time.

In Proceedings of the International Workshop on Networked embedded and control system technologies: European and Russian R&D cooperation,

pages 17-25

 SciTePress

not adaptable to undesired alteration of objects’ structure. The methods and tools for

construction of monitoring algorithms and systems are very specific and can be used

in narrow domains. The problems of CTO monitoring were investigated rather tho-

roughly in USA and in Russia (former USSR), first of all for aerospace and electric

power systems [7]. The most important results were received in this domain. Howev-

er, semantic interpretation of integral CTO state remains the prerogative of operators.

Other feature of modern monitoring system for CTO (MS CTO) is the changeabili-

ty of their parameters and structures as caused by objective and subjective reasons at

different stages of the MS CTO life cycle. In other words we always come across the

MS CTO structure dynamics in practice. Reconfiguration is a widely used variant of

the MS CTO structure control. Reconfiguration is a process of the MS CTO structure

alteration with a view to increase, to keep, or to restore the level of MS CTO opera-

bility, or with a view to compensate the loss of MS CTO efficiency as caused by the

degradation of its functions. But, unfortunately, now MS CTO reconfiguration is not

tied in with monitoring and control processes [2, 8 9].

So the following main problems complicate formalization of state-monitoring

process and systems under dynamic conditions now: firstly, the rules of CTO interac-

tion cannot be discovered and described in a simple way, secondly, there are no uni-

versal methods of interaction representation for a broad class of objects and finally,

there are no universal methods and models of MS CTO optimal reconfiguration under

dynamic condition [8,10]. We consider that description of monitoring procedures and

system should be based on system methodology and modern conception of intelligent

information technology in order to fit various classes of CTO. This description must

be clear to different specialists implementing general rules of monitoring to particular

objects. Our investigation contributes to a solution of the fundamental problem lying

in synthesis and intellectualization of monitoring and control processes for complex

technical objects under dynamic conditions via multiple-model complexes and multi-

criteria approaches.

So the first aim of our investigation is to develop methods, models and algorithms

oriented to concurrent on-line user software assurance for all sorts of measuring in-

formation (information fusion) specifying states of complex technological process

(situation assessment) at all phases of complex technological process life cycle and

control function in real time. The second aim of our investigation is a development of

models, methods and algorithms for real-time monitoring system reconfiguration

under the presence of structure degradation.

Additionally, we develop simulation and analytical models as well as conduct test-

bed experiments for the analysis of the efficient monitoring information transmission

between the MS and CTO. We believe that contemporary wireless communication

technologies should be used for this purpose, especially for the cases when CTO are

located distantly and in the regions difficult of access from the MS CTO. Due to the

requirement of monitoring in real-time, communication technology should be chosen

and configured appropriately in order to provide desired time-probabilistic characte-

ristics of the transmission. This problem becomes challenging in wireless environ-

ment, where characteristics of the communication channel may significantly vary in

time. Therefore, the third aim of our investigations is to conduct performance analysis

and optimization of contemporary wireless protocols and standards.

2 Investigation Overview and Related Work

Analysis of a market dealing with modern software complexes oriented to monitoring

automation for the states of complex technological processes shows that the existing

software complexes have narrow application scopes strictly specified by controlled

objects; they also have limited capacities for adaptation to environmental distur-

bances. This is why there exist many monitoring applicable software complexes hav-

ing contiguous functionality and differing in organizational methods of computational

processes, and in used operational environment. As an example, three directions in

practical implementation of analyzed software complexes could be mentioned [4, 6,

11]:

1. Widely applied real time dynamic expert systems like G2 (software firm Gen-

sym, USA), RT Works (software firm Talarian, USA), COMDALE/C (Comdale

Techn., Canada), COGSYS (SC, USA), ILOG Rules (ILOG, France) are worth men-

tioning.

2. The results received through application of a so-called theory of unfinished

computing based on constraint programming methods and the theory of multi-agent

artificial intelligent systems. The following software packages demonstrate some

advantages of this approach: integrated software product SPRUT (OCTORUS) and

intelligent mathematical problems solver UniCalc.

3. The third direction incorporates so-called data fusion and control systems like

SCADA-systems (Supervisor Control and Data Acquisition – data fusion and control

system, operator’s interface, etc.). Well known products: Genesis, IsaGRAF, Trace-

Mode could be good examples of this development line.

A thorough study of theoretical results showed that there exists a great number of

publications in the area of measuring information processing and analysis methods,

on the other hand, research in the areas of design automation for monitoring software

complexes, development of techniques allowing to arrange for parallel processing and

analysis of measuring information in computing environment with changing structure

are poorly reflected in literature [12, 13, 14]. The impact of types and structures of

the processed information on the composition and structure of the considered soft-

ware complexes is also not well investigated. The above-mentioned circumstances

become important if to account for the fact that a certain successful experience in

practical realization of software complexes for monitoring of states of complex tech-

nological process is based upon the better solutions of structural and functional as

well as organizational problems dealing with the synthesis of software complexes.

However, experimentally received positive results in software complexes for monitor-

ing creation and implementation are of the heuristic nature and are based on intuition

and experience of developers; their elaboration also requires time-consuming, labor-

intensive experiments at the synthesis stage. Moreover, the existing methodology and

software do not meet certain requirements for embedded special software of geo-

graphically distributed real-time complex technological systems with variable struc-

tures [14].

Development of flow-oriented knowledge-representation models, methods, and al-

gorithms for monitoring and control of objects and for reconfiguration of monitoring

system plays the important role in decision of the main problems of synthesis and

intellectualization of monitoring technology and system for complex technical objects

under dynamic conditions in real time. This task includes the following subtasks:

• development of methodological basics for accumulation and use of ill-

formalized knowledge about states of complex technical objects under "rigid" con-

straints (for example, real-time operation mode and recurrence of computational

processes) applied to both process of knowledge accumulation and process of state

estimation; development of methodological basics for structure reconfiguration of

objects and of monitoring system (first line of investigation);

• development of model-and-algorithmic basics for analysis and synthesis

of reconfigurable monitoring system (second line of investigation);

• development of new information technology for creation and maintenance

of monitoring software and software prototype; approbation of the technology in

typical application domains (third line of investigation).

As a relatively separate subtask we emphasis the problem of performance evalua-

tion of wireless communication protocols by means of analytical models, simulations

and test-bed experiments. We consider the following contemporary wireless technol-

ogies IEEE 802.11 Wi-Fi, IEEE 802.16 WiMAX, IEEE 802.15.14 ZigBee etc. Our

objective is to identify, design, test and evaluate wireless network technologies and

architectures, which are able to interconnect CTO in an energy-efficient, secure, ro-

bust, and powerful way to MS CTO under dynamic conditions to guarantee real-time

stable monitoring process. Mechanisms based on the conceptions of cognitive net-

work for stable and energy-efficient operation of wireless mesh and sensor networks

are required.

Cross-layer design conception is becoming increasingly important in wireless net-

works. They abuse the traditional layered approach by direct communication between

nonadjacent layers or distribution of internal information among layers [21]. Cogni-

tive radio is a paradigm in which either a network or a wireless node changes its

transmission or reception parameters to communicate powerfully avoiding interfe-

rence [22]. The cognitive radio concept is extended also to higher protocol layers,

what results in the introduction cognitive networks [23]. A cognitive network can

recognize current network conditions and adapt accordingly. The network can learn

from these adaptations and use them to make decisions in the future.

Therefore, the forth line of investigations is the development of new protocols and

architectures based on the above paradigms as well as performance evaluation of

internationally standardized protocols.

3 The Results of Investigation

Within the first line of investigations the following scientific and practical results

have been obtained by now.

It was established that the change from an automated processing of measuring in-

formation to a computer-aided analysis of received materials involves semantic as-

pects of data representation in place of syntactic ones. Thus, the information about

control objects should rather be regarded as a set of interrelated parameters jointly

characterizing objects' technical state than a simple collection of measurements. This

provided for a conclusion that the metric-space concepts, typically used in simple

monitoring problems, are weak and not suitable for our purposes, hence more general

constructions should be used.

It was proved that the parameters of objects' technical states can be described via a

system of open sets forming a base of topology. It was assumed that the set of para-

meters has a topological structure. Thus a system of neighborhoods (meeting the

axioms of topological spaces) was established for each element. The notion of a tech-

nical state was worked out. By the technical state we meant an abstract collection of

data including whole information both about object's current attributes and the state

of computations within the monitoring process. This view lets optimize computations

in order to receive monitoring results in real time. The following basic statements

were proved: the whole set of technical-state parameters constructed trough the pro-

posed model of knowledge representation is a lattice or a lattice ordered set; if the set

of technical states have the greatest element and the least element (defining the initial

data and the results correspondingly), then a complete lattice (an algebra over the set)

can be formed via a construction of additive and multiplicative lattices; necessary and

sufficient conditions for topology base existence were obtained for the set of technic-

al parameters. The last result is very important, as the constructed topology is used for

whole description of possible technical states and for planning of states analysis (for

construction of computational scheme).

Moreover within the first line of investigations we have been obtained the follow-

ing the results [18, 19, 20]:

Formal description of all possible kinds of controlled states (assessed situation) ac-

counting for their adequacy to actual actions and processes on controlled object

caused by application of different mathematical apparatus for various functional ob-

jects. Multi-model formalization intends for describe actions and processes on the

controlled object;

New integrated methods of program synthesis for automatic analysis (AA) of mea-

suring information (MI) about CTO states were worked out. These methods, as dis-

tinct from known ones, give an opportunity of, firstly, interactive intellectual

processing of data and knowledge about CTO states for different physical properties

(for example, functional parameters, range parameters, signal and code parameters,

and integrated parameters) and for different forms of states description without refer-

ence to their physical features and, secondly, automatic generation of alternative

program schemes for MI analysis according to the objectives of CTO control under

the presence of changing environment;

New algorithms of automatic synthesis of AA MI programs were proposed for

poly-model description of monitoring processes via attribute grammars, discrete dy-

namic systems, and modified Petri nets. Applying of polytypic models resulted in

adequate adaptation of the algorithms to different classes of CTO. Another distin-

guishing feature of the algorithms lied in application of underdetermined calculation

and constraint-driven programming and provided that CTO states could be estimated

rather adequately even if some parameters were omitted and the measuring informa-

tion was incorrect and inaccurate;

A general procedure of automatic (computer-aided) synthesis of CTO monitoring

programs was developed. This procedure includes the following steps.

The 1st step. Description of conditions and constraints for the problem of AA MI

programs synthesis via a special network model connecting input data with goals. An

operator (he need not be a programmer) uses a special problem-oriented language to

execute this step.

The 2nd step. Automatic existence analysis for a solution of AA MI problem that

is defined via a formal attribute grammar.

The 3rd step. If the solution exists then the alternative schemes for AA MI pro-

grams are generated and implemented in a special operational environment (problem

solver of the CTO monitoring system).

The main advantage and substance of the proposed procedure is simple modeling

of MI sources (models generation) that can be performed by a non-programming

operator in the shortest time and the real-time implementation of the intellectual me-

thods and algorithms of MI processing and analysis for arbitrary structure of the mea-

suring information.

The proposed methods of monitoring automation and modeling let switch from

heuristic description of the telemetry analysis to a sequence of well-grounded stages

of monitoring program construction and adaptation, from unique skills to unified

technologies of software design. These methods are based on a conclusion that a

functional description of monitoring process is much less complicated than detailed

examination of software realizations. Consecutive specification of software functions

is the ground of technologies to be used for creation of monitoring systems. The sug-

gested technology of continuous design process includes such well-known phases as

new proposal phase based on special operational environment [18, 19, 20].

Within the second line of investigations the following scientific and practical re-

sults have been obtained by now [10].

System analysis of the ways and means to formalize and solve the problem of the

control over structure dynamics of monitoring system (MS) servicing CTO under

changing environment was fulfilled. It was shown that the problems of structure-

functional synthesis of monitoring systems and intellectual information technologies

as applied to complex technical objects and the problems of CTO structure reconfigu-

ration are a special case of structure-dynamics control problem. Other variants of

structure-dynamics control processes in MS are: changing of MS objectives and

means of operation; reallocation of functions, tasks, and control algorithms between

MS levels; control of MS reserves; transposition of MS elements and subsystems.

The basic concepts and definitions for MS structure-dynamics control were intro-

duced. It was proposed to base formulating and solving of the structure-dynamic

control problems on the methodologies of the generalized system analysis, the mod-

ern optimal control theory for the complex systems with reconfigurable structures and

artificial intelligence. The stated methodologies find their concrete reflection in the

appropriate principles. The main principles were marked out: the principle of goal

programmed control, the principle of external complement, the principle of necessary

variety, the principles of poly-model and multi-criteria approaches, the principle of

new problems.

During our investigations the main phases and steps of a program-construction

procedure for optimal structure-dynamics control in MS were proposed. At the first

phase forming (generation) of allowable multi-structural macro-states is being per-

formed. In other words a structure-functional synthesis of a new MS make-up should

be fulfilled in accordance with an actual or forecasted situation. Here the first-phase

problems come to MS structure-functional synthesis.

At the second phase a single multi-structural macro-state is being selected, and

adaptive plans (programs) of MS transition to the selected macro-state are con-

structed. These plans should specify transition programs, as well as programs of sta-

ble MS operation in intermediate multi-structural macro-states. The second phase of

program construction is aimed at a solution of multi-level multi-stage optimization

problems.

One of the main opportunities of the proposed method of MS SDC program con-

struction is that besides the vector of program control we receive a preferable multi-

structural macro-state of MS at final time. This is the state of MS reliable operation in

the current (forecasted) situation. The combined methods and algorithms of optimal

program construction for structure-dynamics control in centralized and non-

centralized modes of MS operation were developed too.

The main combined method was based on joint use of the successive approxima-

tions method and the “branch and bounds” method. A theorem characterizing proper-

ties of the relaxed problem of MS SDC optimal program construction was proved for

a theoretical approval of the proposed method. An example was used to illustrate the

main aspects of realization of the proposed combined method.

Algorithms of parametric and structural adaptation for MS SDC models were pro-

posed. The algorithms were based on the methods of fuzzy clusterization, on the

methods of hierarchy analysis, and on the methods of a joint use of analytical and

simulation models

The SDC application software for structure-dynamics control in complex technical

systems was developed too.

Within the third line of investigations the following scientific and practical results

have been obtained by now: the pilot versions of computer-aided monitoring system

(CMS) for CTO states supervision (in space systems and atomics) work in network of

IBM/PC-compatible computers; it uses special operational environment [18, 19, 20],

real-time database management system, multi-window interface, and programming

language C/C++.

The prototypes of CMS belong under the class MMI/CACSD/SCADA/MAIS

(man-machine interface/ computer-aided control system design/supervisory control

and data acquisition/ multi-agent intellectual system).

Within the forth line of investigations the following scientific and practical results

have been obtained by now: sufficient number of different analytical and simulation

models for contemporary wireless networks, methods to compute time-probabilistic

characteristics and to optimize the performance of these networks (e.g. [24], [25]).

4 Conclusions

Suggested intelligent information technology will allow reducing costs of complex

technological process underlying the elaboration of a system for monitoring and con-

trol of states of complex technological process, and will facilitate significantly its

further modification. At that systems for real time monitoring of states of complex

technological process acquire principally new qualities. Particularly they allow moni-

toring in real time the states of complex technological process characterized by great

number of measured parameters under structure reconfiguration of the controlled

objects. The proposed information technology rises the automation level of complex

technological processes control, increases possibilities of control of objects under

degradation of their structures, improves reliability and efficiency of control

processes, increases possibilities of early detection of various technical faults as well

as timely prediction of catastrophes allowing to make right decision and to undertake

appropriate prevention measures. The proposed approach to the problem of MS struc-

ture reconfiguration control in the terms of general context of MS structural dynamics

control enables the following: common goals of MS functioning can be directly

linked with those implemented (realized) in MS control process; a reasonable deci-

sion and selection (choice) of an adequate consequence of problems to be solved and

operations to be fulfilled related to structural dynamics can be made (in other words,

MS control method can be synthesized and developed); a compromise(trade-off)

distribution of a restricted resources appropriated for a structural dynamics control

can be found without additional expenses.

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