The problem on how to determine the observability of Boolean control networks (BCNs) has been open for five years already. In this paper, we propose a unified approach to determine all the four types of observability of BCNs in the literature. We define the concept of weighted pair graphs for BCNs. In the sense of each observability, we use the so-called weighted pair graph to transform a BCN to a finite automaton, and then we use the automaton to determine observability. In particular, the two types of observability that rely on initial states and inputs in the literature are determined. Finally, we show that no pairs of the four types of observability are equivalent, which reveals the essence of nonlinearity of BCNs.Index Terms-Boolean control network, observability, weighted pair graph, finite automaton, formal language, semi-tensor product of matrices K. Zhang is with College of Automation, Harbin Engineering University,

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This brief investigates the controllability and observability of Boolean control networks with (not necessarily bounded) time-variant delays in states. After a brief introduction to converting a Boolean control network to an equivalent discrete-time bilinear dynamical system via the semi-tensor product of matrices, the system is split into a finite number of subsystems (constructed forest) with no time delays by using the idea of splitting time that is proposed in this brief. Then, the controllability and observability of the system are investigated by verifying any so-called controllability constructed path and any so-called observability constructed paths in the above forest, respectively, which generalize some recent relevant results. Matrix test criteria for the controllability and observability are given. The corresponding control design algorithms based on the controllability theorems are given. We also show that the computing complexity of our algorithm is much less than that of the existing algorithms.

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