Automated plan synthesis and action dispatch

A method of controlling the dispatch of actions in a plan for accomplishing a task in a system, the method comprising:

• identifying multiple candidate dispatch controllers that are candidates for controlling dispatch of a first action in the plan;
• determining, for each of the candidate dispatch controllers, a communication latency with which control signaling is able to be communicated via the candidate dispatch controller for dispatching a second action in the plan after execution of the first action;
• selecting, from among the candidate dispatch controllers, a first dispatch controller whose determined communication latency satisfies a dispatch delay constraint governing dispatch of the second action;
• and
• allocating the first action to the first dispatch controller.

An artificial intelligence (AI) planning controller for controlling when artificial intelligence planning synthesizes a plan to accomplish a task in a system that is an internet-of-things (IoT) system or a cyber-physical system, the AI planning controller comprising:

• processing circuitry configured to:
• determine a quiescent phase during which values of at least some predicates describing a state of the system will remain stable;
• and
• control artificial intelligence planning to synthesize the plan during at least some of the quiescent phase, wherein the plan is synthesized as a set of basic or atomic actions to be executed by devices or resources in the system for accomplishing the task, wherein each basic or atomic action is defined by a pair of predicates which capture the state of the system before and after the basic or atomic action is executed, wherein the predicate which captures the state of the system before the basic or atomic action is executed is a precondition predicate and the predicate which captures the state of the system after the basic or atomic action is executed is an effect predicate;
• and
• wherein the quiescent phase is a phase during which values of the precondition predicates in the plan will remain stable.

A dispatch allocation controller for controlling the dispatch of actions in a plan for accomplishing a task in a system, the dispatch allocation controller comprising:

• processing circuitry configured to:
• identify multiple candidate dispatch controllers that are candidates for controlling dispatch of a first action in the plan;
• determine, for each of the candidate dispatch controllers, a communication latency with which control signaling is able to be communicated via the candidate dispatch controller for dispatching a second action in the plan after execution of the first action;
• select, from among the candidate dispatch controllers, a first dispatch controller whose determined communication latency satisfies a dispatch delay constraint governing dispatch of the second action;
• and
• allocate the first action to the first dispatch controller.