A Contract Theory for Layered Control Architectures
<|reference_start|>A Contract Theory for Layered Control Architectures: Autonomous systems typically leverage layered control architectures with a combination of discrete and continuous models operating at different timescales. As a result, layered systems form a new class of hybrid systems composed of systems operating on a diverse set of continuous and discrete signals. This paper formalizes the notion of a layered (hierarchical) control architecture through a theory of relations between its layers. This theory enables us to formulate contracts within layered control systems -- these define interfaces between layers and isolate the design of each layer, guaranteeing that composition of contracts at each layer results in a contract capturing the desired system-wide specification. Thus, the proposed theory yields the ability to analyze layered control architectures via a compositional approach.<|reference_end|>
@article{mazo2024a,
    title={A Contract Theory for Layered Control Architectures},
    author={Manuel Mazo Jr., Will Compton, Max H. Cohen and Aaron D. Ames},
    journal={arXiv preprint arXiv:2409.14902},
    year={2024},
    archivePrefix={arXiv},
    eprint={2409.14902},
    primaryClass={eess.SY cs.SY math.OC}
}