The thinning problem
Engineering Optimization, 42 (2):
185--203 (2010)DOI: 10.1080/03052150902998560
Abstract
The main problem addressed in this work is how to confine the set of sequential processes of a disjunctive/ conjunctive resource allocation system (D/C-RAS) to a subset of their feasible behaviours while optimizing some performance criterion. A canonical characterization of this problem is provided in the form of a mixed integer programming formulation, for the case that the optimized performance criterion is the maximization of the system throughput. However, an important additional development of this effort is a complete analytical characterization of the performance control problem of D/C-RAS. This characterization is based on an effective integration of recent results on the liveness-enforcing supervision of D/C-RAS with the theory of Markov decision processes, and it concretizes the interaction between the D/C-RAS logical and performance control. Throughout the development of the article, examples are used to highlight the concepts and formulations involved.