Controlling state transitions in a system

A control system, implemented by processing functionality, for controlling operation of a target system, the target system having a plurality of units to be controlled, comprising:

• a prediction module configured to predict, at a current time step, demand for resources of the target system, to provide predicted demand for a plurality of future time steps;
• and
• a transition determination module configured to determine, at the current time step, state transitions within the target system to address the predicted demand, to provide a plurality of state transitions, each state transition describing a number of units to be advanced from a first state, at a first time step, to a second state, at a second time step,
• the prediction module comprising:
• logic configured to receive a set of demand measurements associated with past demand experienced by the target system;
• and
• logic configured to use the set of demand measurements to provide the predicted demand, and
• the transition determination module comprising:
• logic configured to formulate an objective function that expresses a control objective to be achieved in the target system;
• and
• logic configured to operate on the objective function using a solving technique to achieve the control objective and, in doing so, provide the state transitions.

A computer readable medium for storing computer readable instructions, the computer readable instructions providing a transition determination module when executed by one or more processing devices, the computer readable instructions comprising:

• logic configured to, at a current time step, determine state transitions within a target system to address predicted demand, to provide a plurality of state transitions by:
• formulating an objective function that expresses a control objective to be achieved in the target system;
• and
• operating on the objective function using a solving technique to achieve the control objective, and, in doing so, provide the state transitions.