1052 Book Reviews
attempt to uni~' the theory and, at the same time, to
reach a broad audience. The math (matrix algebra,
eigenvalues, singular-value decomposition, random
processes, and Kalman filtering) and examples
(Hubble space telescope, flexible aircraft wing, etc.)
provide the reader with the necessary tools to under-
stand the subject. The author presents in the Ap-
pendix, the mathematical preliminaries necessary for
reading and understanding the remainder of the text.
The book starts by introducing and justifying the
discipline of identification. Identification is the
process of deriving and improving a mathematical
model of a physical system, using experimental data.
The end-use of the resulting model determines the
degree of sophistication of the identification tech-
niques. Modal testing as used in aerospace struc-
tural engineering, and system identification used in
control theory are discussed. In the subsequent two
chapters, the basics of continuous, discrete, Laplace.
frequency., and Markov system representations are
discussed. Model representations typically used in
structures and controls are defined and transformed
to input-output models. Two simple steps are
followed:
l) Selection of a candidate model on the basis of
some error criteria
2) Model transformation for further use.
The models are linearized and then related to the
Markov system parameter representation. The
Markov representation (pulse response) plays a
crucial role in the development. Laplace transforms
and z-transforms for discrete-time models are dis-
cussed and related to frequent3.' response analysis
and identification. Pulse/impulse response functions
are developed for both the s-transform and the z-
transform. These functions are presented in terms of
the system matrices and Markov (pulse response)
parameters. Frequency response functions are de-
scribed next. Although these are considered as
precursors to identification, much useful information
may result from their use. Input/output correlation,
coherence, and error analyses b) using the Fourier
transforms are discussed in particular.
Man)' system-identification methods have been
developed over the years. The author attempts to
bring these together in a unified mathematical
framework. Controllabili~' and observability tests
impact the developments, and are included and
referred to throughout the remainder of the text. At
this point, the eigens3.'stem realization algorithm is
introduced as a method for system identification and
model reduction. Hankel matrices of Markov
parameters are utilized in conjunction with a singu-
lar value decomposition in the algorithm. Two
approaches to distinguishing noise from true infor-
mation are introduced_ to reduce the model to a
relevant size.
One chapter is dedicated to observer/Kalman filter
identification. Since man)- laboratories are equipped
~ith sophisticated testing devices, including spec-
trum analyzers, frequency-domain state-space iden-
tification is introduced to take advantage of this fact.
The approach the author uses is first to optimize
with respect to Markov parameters, and then to
convert them to a state-space formulation, thus
creating a linear optimization problem. Finally, a
closed-loop control system is considered. From the
time-history data, a state-space model is realized
from the system's Markov parameters. The method
presented is an extension of the observer/Kalman
filter approach presented earlier. A disct~sion of
recursive techniques concludes the book. The em-
phasis is placed on computational efficiency. A
comparison between classical least-squares, fast
transversal and lattice filters demonstrates the linear
computational characteristics of the latter two meth-
otis. This is an important issue for large systems.
Graduate students, researchers, and practitioners in
multivariable system identification should benefit
greatly from this book. Theorems and math are
presented as needed to assist the practitioner. A reD"
useful bibliography is provided to aid the reader in
his research. The examples presented are very
useful, and the problems given at the end of each
chapter will allow the reader to obtain a thorough
understanding of the material. This is a very acces-
sible text for practising engineers and beginning
graduate students, as it does not require an extensive
math background and interest. The math has been
kept at a minimum in order to emphasize practical
applications. The author's style is very easy to
follow and makes for interesting reading. The index
and detailed table of contents are also very helpful.
In summary', this is a valuable addition to the library
of anyone who is seriously interested in system
identification.
Real-Time Computer Control. An Introduction.
Second Edition. by Stuart BENNETT: Prentice Hall:
Englewood Cliffs. NJ. USA 1994: xiv + 417 pp.:
$68-00: ISBN: 0-13-764176-1
Reviewed b.v: Krzysztof SACHA
Warsaw Universi~ of Technology., Warsaw, Poland
This new edition reflects the considerable industrial
and academic interest in computer control systems.
particularly in the methods for specifying and de-
signing application software for such systems. The
book explains the principles of computer control.
and the fundamental ideas underlying the software
engineering approach to the design of software for
computer control applications. This book is
 Book Reviews
intended for the senior-year undergra~3ate students
and practising control engineers, who need an
introduction to real-time software from an
application viewpoint.
The material is presented in a systematic manner,
starting from the concepts of computer control and
DDC algorithms, ne~ going through the languages
for real-time applications and operating systems, up
to the level of software design and development
methodologies. Such a bottom-up approach is
almost ideal for didactic presentation, as it guides
the reader from small practical examples up to more
abstract aspects of the design analysis.
The structure of the material is clear, and comprises
three basic parts. The first part of the book intro-
duces the concepts of computer control, and shows
the hardware tools needed for the implementation of
these concepts. After describing the basic character-
istics of batch control, sequence control, loop control
and supervisoD" control, the author presents basic
architectural requirements and solutions for com-
puter hardware, and various computer-based imple-
mentations of the basic three-term (PID) algorithm.
Of especial note is the in-depth discussion on how a
particular implementation can influence the behavior
of the PID controller.
The section on real-time programming languages
describes the fundamental concepts of modular
programming, data ~pes and D'stematic control
structures, as well as more-advanced topics of
exception handling, interrupt handling and concur-
ren~'. The description is based on the features of
Modula-2, a programming language which supports
an extensive set of facilities for concurrent pro-
gramming. The section on operating systems con-
centrates on the principles of scheduling, task man-
agement, mutual exclusion and input-output subsys-
tems. What is definitely missing here is a mention
of distributed operating systems, which are increas-
ingly present in industrial developments. In fact, the
presentation does not seem to be up to date. with no
mention of topics such as client-server architectures
and task communication through messages and
rendezvous. In addition, it would have been desir-
able to have seen here at least one example of an
advanced, commercial real-time kernel, e.g. QNX.
VxWorks, and pSOS+.
The issues from the software-development ~-cle are
presented next, with the emphasis on the require-
ments specification and design methods, including
structured design as handled by Ward and Mellor.
structured design ~, Hatley and Pirbhai, MASCOT.
and a formal software requirements specification
language PAISLey. With all of the on-going
research in software engineering, this part of the
book could be considerably lengthened to include a
1053
new generation of the object-oriented design meth-
ods, which are a hot topic of the day. The descrip-
tion of the design methods is followed ~" a discus-
sion of design analysis based on Petri nets and
schedulability analysis. The book ends with a rather
short introduction to fault-detection methods and
fault-tolerant design techniques.
This structuring of the material is a very good one,
and the book meets its goals in presenting a compre-
hensive view of computer control s)stems. There is.
however, one topic which is absent from the book:
programmable logic controllers. These factory-floor
computers, based on specific hardware architectures
and specific programming languages, can be found
in the vast majori~" of industrial control applica-
tions, and are an inherent part of computer control
technolo~'.
Despite its deficiencies, the book's virtues are its
clear presentation, systematic structure and broad
coverage. The book is worth reading and can be
recommended as introductory, material for real-time
courses, particularly those oriented towards the
software design aspects of computer control. The
book would also be helpful to practising control
engineers who would like to attain an understanding
of the internal mechanisms of the computer software
the" are using.
Genetic Algorithms in Optimisation, Simulation
and Modelling, edited ~. J. STENDER,
E. HILLEBRAND, and J. KINGDON: Frontiers in
Arificial Intelligence and Applications Series:
IOS Press; Amsterdam, The Netherlands: 1994:
272 pp.: $85-00: ISBN: 90-5199-180-0
Reviewed by: Zbigniew MICHALEWICZ
Universi~" of North Carolina, Charlotte. NC, USA
Evolutionary. computation techniques are stochastic
algorithms whose search methods model some natu-
ral phenomena: genetic inheritance and Darwinian
strife for survival. The populari .ty of these methods
can be explained ~' their simplicity and robustness.
The general idea of propagating good characteristics
of a potential solution in subsequent populations is
quite simple and problem-independent. Evolution-
ary computation methods have therefore been suc-
cessfully applied to a variety of difficult problems.
These include numerical optimization, machine
learning, optimal control, cognitive modeling, clas-
sic operations research problems (traveling salesman
problem, knapsack problems, transportation prob-
lems, assignment problems, bin packing, scheduling.
partitioning, etc.), engineering design, system
integration, iterated games, robotics, signal process-