Decomposition of models of control processes (Q1269952)

In modern literature, the term `` decomposition'' , as applied to mathematical models in general and to control process models in particular, is rather vaguely defined. The paper under review is concerned with the `` geometric'' approach, namely with the immersion of an object (model) into a class of objects of the `` same type'' , introduction of equivalent transformations (isomorphisms) of one object into another in this class, and with the determination of an object among objects which are equivalent (isomorphic) to a given object (such that the object thus found is ` ` composed'' of a certain number of objects which are simpler in a certain sense). This paper does not deal with linear models of control processes with equivalence transformations used as linear mappings (which have been studied quite extensively elsewhere), but rather with the general case, where `` linear'' methods fail to produce results. The authors start with a survey of the general problem of decomposition of mathematical models, a particular case of which is the decomposition of control process models. Next, applied aspects of the decomposition problem for control process models are investigated -- in particular, the relationship between reachability, observability and realization of models of control processes and the decomposition of these models. The authors also examine the possibility of controlling a process via hierarchical organization based on decomposition properties. A brief description of linguistic tools associated with the theory of the Bourbaki structure genera is presented (on the other hand, the paper assumes familiarity with basic concepts of the category theory). The last section gives a quick overview of the results on the decomposition of control processes derived within the framework of the reviewed approach. An extensive list of references is given -- total of 173 journal articles and books (small curiosity: references are ordered according to the Cyrillic alphabet \((a,b,v,g,d,\dots)\), rather than according to the standard Latin alphabet).