2014/09/11 by Sicun Gao, Gao, Sicun
Computer Science · #Embedded Systems Design Techniques #FOS: Computer and information sciences #FOS: Electrical engineering #Formal Methods in Verification #Logic in Computer Science (cs.LO) #Logic, programming, and type systems #Systems and Control (eess.SY) #electronic engineering #information engineering
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1409.3560
openalex publication_date 2014/09/11 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
Logic is playing an increasingly important role in the engineering of real-time, hybrid, and cyber-physical systems, but mostly in the form of posterior verification and high-level analysis. The core methodology in the design of real-world systems consists mainly of control theory and numerical analysis, and has remained mostly free of logic and formal approaches. As a result, besides facing extreme difficulty in guaranteeing the reliability of these systems, engineers are also missing out the computational power of logic-based methods that has greatly advanced in the past decades. To change this situation, we need a logical and computational foundation for control theory. The name "descriptive control theory" emphasizes the overarching theme of using logic to express, analyze, and solve problems in control theory. If the program is successfully carried out, logical approaches will significantly extend existing engineering methods towards a unified methodology for handling nonlinear and hybrid systems, and bring design automation and reliability to an unprecedented level in the broad field of engineering.