Theory has been developed about cooperation of such systems. Especially, questions about controlling DESs can be answered. Controllers can be computed to get a controlled system that act as prescribed and/or to avoid ending in deadlock.
DESs play an important role in many applications, like flexible manufacturing systems, computer networks, communication and protocol design, VLSI design and traffic systems.
For general information about Discrete Event Systems: a general DES document is available, containing a complete DES-bibliography, a list of DES-researchers, and a list of DES-workshops and DES-conferences. Also, the IEEE Working Group on Discrete Event Systems has a WWW-document available.
This research has resulted in a PH.D.thesis [Sme04] and a couple of publications (most important ones: [SpSm] [SSR] [Sme19] [Sme17] [Sme16] [Sme15] [Sme10] [Sme09] [Sme06]).
A first workshop on the field has been organized together with Petr Kozák (Institute of Information Theory and Automation, Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague) in August 1992 in Prague [WODES92] and a second workshop has been organisated in 1996 in Edinburgh, Scotland, see [WODES96]. A third is organizes in Cagliari, see [WODES98] and a next one in Gent, Belgium, see WODES2000 At the moment I am a member of the WODES-steering group.
I have cooperated with Michael Spathopoulos (University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK). From 1994, joint research is done in the fields of decentralized and distributed controllers for discrete event systems, using hierarchical and distributed structures and study on how this theory can be applied in control problems for flexible manufacturing and traffic systems.
Within the framework of Research Networks, Training and Mobility of Researchers, a programme of the European Commission, Directorate General XII, the ALAPEDES project has started in october 1996.