Declarative Models of Concurrent Cyclic Processes

This monograph presents a new declarative approach dedicated to the analysis of behaviors and synthesis of structures of Systems of Cyclic Concurrent Multimodal Processes (SCCMP). These kinds of problems are some of the most difficult cyclic scheduling problems - both from the computational side and the complexity of the models used.

SCCMP is understood as a set of processes (in particular, multimodal processes) that execute operations cyclically on a set of jointly used (shared) resources (processors, machines, means of transport, etc.). They model the functioning of numerous systems encountered in practical settings and which are characterized by cyclic (periodic) behavior. Typical examples are the passenger railway system, the manufacturing system, the transportation system, and etc.

Considered problems, i.e., the behavior analysis problem, the structure prototyping problem, and the problem of mutual reachability of various SCCMP behaviors, are strongly NP-hard. Thisfeature implies that computationally-efficient algorithms need to be sought. They would enable the evaluation of selected aspects of the considered system's functions, such as service costs, transport time, etc., in real-time mode.

In that context, the presented monograph fills the gap in the field of SCCMP modeling. Its aim is to present declarative models of systems of cyclic multimodal processes. Such models allow the development of computationally-efficient methods of analysis of the behavior and synthesis of the structure of SCCMP. The particular issues raised in this study concern:

· Modeling of SCCMP with regular/fractal structures, i.e., structures composed of repeating fragments.

· Determining the conditions of mutual reachability of various SCCMP behaviors.

· Modeling of SCCMP described by fuzzy variables.

The monograph is addressed to researchers, practitioners, and graduate students in operations management, operations research, computer science, and industrial engineering. Declarative models of concurrent cyclic processes will serve as an essential reference for professionals working on cyclic scheduling problems in computer science, manufacturing, communication, and transportation services, as well as in many other areas.

Grzegorz Bocewicz is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Electronics and Computer Science of Koszalin University of Technology in Poland. He obtained an M.Sc. in Telecommunications from the Koszalin University of Technology, Poland, and Ph.D. and D.Sc. degrees in Computer Sciences from the Wrocław University of Technology, Poland in 2006, 2007, and 2014, respectively. From 2016-2022 he was a Dean of the Faculty of Electronics and Computer Science of Koszalin University of Technology. Currently, he is the head of the Department of Computer Science and Management.

His research interests include the modeling and design of decision support systems, methods of advanced planning and scheduling, constraints programming techniques, modeling and analyzing of systems of concurrent cyclic processes, operational research techniques, artificial intelligence methods, theory of dynamic discrete event systems, and projects portfolio prototyping under uncertain constraints.

He hassupervised/co-supervised five Ph.D. theses in the domains of computer science, automation, and management. As an author, co-author, or editor, he has published over 60 journal articles, three books, 40 chapters in books, and 50 peer-reviewed conference papers. He has delivered oral presentations of 60 papers submitted to Polish and international conferences. He is a Fellow of two IFAC Technical Committees (TC 5.1 - Manufacturing Plant Control, and TC 5.2 - Management and Control in Manufacturing and Logistics) and the Polish Association for Measurements, Automatics, and Robotics - POLSPAR. The result of his scientific activity is also cooperation with many universities (i.e., Aalborg University, Wrocław University of Science and Technology) and participation in many scientific projects (funded by the European Commission, National Science Center, and Koszalin University of Technology).