STR/MP: A Real-Time Structuration Language for the Control of Complex Industrial Processes

Abstract This paper presents a structuration language of real-time applications which permits one to define or to modify an application on line. The analysis of the demands of the decentralized control of complex processes enables us to define the characteristics which a structuration language must possess. Of particular importance is the necessity to install the application progressively and the possibility of being able to modify it without stopping the installation. The adaptation of the language to a method of specification suitable for automaticians is also here considered. Finally, the language must be able to be implemented in a network of processors, i. e. in a decentralized system. The structuration of the application consists in constructing the activities as sequences of operations which use the basic tools (inputs-outputs, events, procedures) and in defining the links which unite them from the point of view of the synchronization and from the point of view of the communication of information. The definition of the activities and the definition of the links are carried out on line. The security aspect underlies the whole study. The possibilities for the user to present the problems of real-time control clearly and to modify or stop this or that part of the application in case of a poor functionning of the whole system improve security.