ITMO University
“Programming Technologies” Department

SWITCH-technology - state machine approach for creating of control systems software

SWITCH-technology - state machine approach for creating of control systems software

Presented new technology of algorithmic and programming of two kinds control systems for complex technological processes - logical control systems and reactive systems.

A choice of graphic language of the specifications allows, from the one hand, reasonably, mathematical strictly, completly and nonconflictly to describe problems of those classes systems in the form, clear to the Customer (Technologist), Developer, Programmer, User and Controller, and with other - formality and isomorphicly to build the programs in basis of the used programming language, which are well understood, structured, observable and manageable.

Methods of formal synthesis of the functional programs for three classes of the programming languages are stated: algorithmic languages of a high level; algorithmic languages of a low level; specialized languages. These languages correspond to three classes of computing devices, now in use in practice of designing a control system: to industrial computers; to microcontrollers; to programming logic cont- rollers (PLC).

With reference to the PLC the specified methods are stated for the representatives of all classes of languages according to the interna- tional standard IEC 1131-3 (IEC 61131-3) - languages of the instruc- tions and stractured text, ladder and function diagrams, sequential functional charts.

The offered technology allows to divide work, and mainest, responsibility between the Customer, Developer and Programmer, that especially is important, when they represent different organizations, and furthermore the countries, otherwise arise essential language, and, in the end, and economic problems.

This technology for logical control systems have advantage compare analogous technologys from "Omron", "Tosiba International Ltd", "Matsu- shita Automation Control", "Mitsubishi Electric", "GE Fanuc Automa- tion", "Siemens", "AEG Schneider Automation (Groupe Schneider", "Asea Brown Boveri", "Allen-Bradley Inc.","Festo Cybernetic", "CJ Internatio- nal".

This technology used and gived upgrade "FF-Automation" (Finland), "ABB Stromberg Draves" (Finland),"Norcontrol" (Norwegia) .

This technology for reactive systems have advantage compare analo- gous technologys from "Statecharts" (I-Logix, Inc.), "Stateflow" (MathWorks, Inc.), "Unified Modeling Language (UML)" (Rational Software Corp.).

Author of technology Anatoly Shalyto - professor of Department of computing technologies Saint Petersburg State Institute of Fine Mecha- nics and Optics (Technical University). E-mail: mail@avrorasystems.com (for Shalyto).

In 1996 he has won a competition of the publishing projects held under the aegis of Russian Fund of Fundamental Research and has publi- shed the book "SWITCH-technology. Algorithmic and programming methods in solution of the logical control problems". St. Petersburg: Nauka (Science), 1998. 628 p. In Russian. Contents and summary in English. Information about the book : Library of Congress (www.loc.gov) - LC Call N: TJ223.P76S46 1998.

Another book of Shalyto A.A. "Logic control. Hardware and software algorithm implemrntation" St. Petersburg: Nauka (Science), 2000. 780 p. In Russian. Contents and summary in English. Information about the book - LC Call N: TJ223.P76S53 2000.

The parts of the books in English:

1. Shalyto A.A. Algorithmic Graph Schemes and Transition Graphs: Their Use in Software Realization of Logical Control Algorithms. Part I,II. //Automation and Remote Control. Vol.57, N6, Part 2, June, 1996, pp.890-897; Vol.57, N7, Part 2, July, 1996, pp.1027-1045. Information - www.wkap.nl.
2. Shalyto A.A. Software Automation Design: Algorithmization and Programming of Problems of Logical Control //Journal of Computer and Systems Sciences International. 2000. V.39. N6, pp. 899-916. Information - www.maik.ru.
3. Shalyto A.A. Logic Control and "Reactive" Systems: Algorithmization and Programming //Automation and Remote Control. 2001. V.62. N1, pp.1-29. Text - www.wkap.nl, www.ifmo.ru.
4. Shalyto A.A., Tukkel N.I. SWITCH- Technology: An Automated Approach to Developing Software for Reactive Systems //Programming and Computer Software. 2001. 27(5). Information - www.wkap.nl.