Stability of networked control systems: analysis of packet dropping

The problem of stabilization of networked control systems (NCSs) with time-varying transmission delays is investigated. The time-varying delays lie in any two adjoining sampling instants of the plant. A technique is proposed for designing stabilizing controllers by converting NCSs with time-varying transmission delays into parameter uncertain systems with constant input delay, then the theory of robust stabilization of delay systems can be applied to solving this problem. Sufficient condition on stabilization of such NCSs is developed in terms of linear matrix inequality.

Recent technological advances have enabled distributed control systems to be implemented via networks. This allows feedback control loops to be closed over a shared communication channel. Network-induced delays are inevitable, however, when transmitting digital data between control devices. This paper analyzes the stability of such networked control systems (NCS). We first review some previous work on this topic, offering some improvements. We analyze the influence of the sampling rate and network delay on system stability. We further study the stability of NCS using a hybrid system stability analysis technique.

This paper deals with the stochastic stability of networked control systems with the presence of network-induced delay and transmitted data dropout. Based on Lyapunov approach, sufficient conditions for the mean-square stability of the networked control system are derived subject that the sequence of transmission interval is driven by an identically independently distributed (i.i.d.) sequence and by a finite state Markov chain, respectively. Stabilization controllers are constructed in terms of linear matrix inequalities correspondingly. An example is provided to illustrate our results.

Exponential stability of networked control systems with network-induced random delaysIn this paper, the problem of exponential stability for the standard form of the state control, realized in a networked control system structure, is studied. To deal with the problem of stability analysis of the event-time-driven modes in the networked control systems the delayed-dependent exponential stability conditions are reformulated and proven. Based on the delay-time dependent Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional, exponential stability criteria are derived. These criteria are expressed as a set of linear matrix inequalities and their structure can be modified to use the bilinear inequality techniques.

The presence of a communication network in a control loop induces many imperfections such as varying transmission delays, varying sampling/transmission intervals, packet loss, communication constraints and quantization effects, which can degrade the control performance significantly and even lead to instability. Various techniques have been proposed in the literature for stability analysis and controller design for these so-called networked control systems. The aim of this chapter is to survey the main research lines in a comprehensive manner.

New stability criteria and stabilization methods on networked control systems (NCSs) with short time-varying delay (STVD) are proposed in this paper. An NCS with STVD is transformed into a time-varying discrete time system. And then, this discrete time system is converted into a equivalent time-invariant system with norm-bounded uncertainties by using robust control techniques. Using this method, the conservatism of the stability condition caused by STVD can be reduced. Based on that, a single norm-bounded uncertainty is replaced by N norm-bounded uncertainties to further reduce conservatism. Theoretical analysis shows that when N is increased, the stability condition becomes less conservative. For a fixed sampling period, the obtained stability conditions explicitly depend on the upper and lower bounds of the time delay. The existence condition and design method for the controllers are also presented. Finally, three numerical examples are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme.

Output feedback stabilization for Markov-based nonuniformly sampled-data networked control systems

The stochastic stabilisation of networked control systems is investigated with a special focus on the lossy multi‐packet transmission in the wireless communication context. The resulting partially available system states due to multi‐packet transmission are firstly reconstructed at the controller, and the sufficient conditions for stochastic stability are then given for the closed‐loop system, which finally leads to a controller design method with explicit consideration of multi‐packet transmission. The proposed theoretical results are verified by both numerical and TrueTime‐based examples.

Research on mean square exponential stability of networked control systems with multi-step delay

A wireless networked control systems (NCS) is a control system whose feedback path is realized over a wireless communication network. The stability of such systems can be problematic given the random way in which wireless channels drop feedback messages. This paper establishes sufficient conditions for the almost sure stability of NCS under random dropouts. These conditions relate the burstiness in the dropout process to the nominal response of the controlled system. In particular, this means that the burstiness of the dropout process provides a convenient quality-of-service (QoS) constraint on the wireless channel that can be used to adaptively reconfigure the control system in a manner that guarantees the almost sure stability of the NCS. We also show how a probabilistic extension of the network calculus can be used to reconfigure multi-hop communication networks so this paper's sufficient stability condition is not violated.

A new control mode is proposed for a networked control system whose network-induced delay is longer than a sampling period. A time-division algorithm is presented to implement the control and for the mathematical modeling of such networked control system. The infinite horizon controller is designed, which renders the networked control system mean square exponentially stable. Simulation results show the validity of the proposed theory.

Networked stabilization for multi-input systems over quantized fading channels

Improved stability and stabilization design for networked control systems using new quadruple-integral functionals

The problem of stabilization of networked control systems (NCSs) with data packet dropout is studied. Sufficient conditions are presented on the stability and stabilization of the NCSs with packet dropout. The novelty of this work lies in that NCSs with arbitrary but finite data packet dropout are modelled as switched linear systems, and this enables us to apply the result of switched systems to the analysis and synthesis of such NCSs. The admissible upper bound of the dropped packets can be determined by a set of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) which guarantee the stability of the NCSs. Stabilizing controllers (via state feedback and static output feedback) can be constructed by solving a set of LMIs. Also, for an NCS with a convergence rate constraint, similar results are obtained. Examples are worked out to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method

The use of avionics networks for flight control system has reduced aircraft weight, system installation, integration and maintenance costs as well as introduced time delays and structured uncertainties. This paper studies the robust stability and stabilisation problem of uncertain networked flight control system with random time delays. Some new sufficient criteria with simple mathematical forms for robust stability and stabilisation of networked flight control system are derived by a free weighting matrix approach. A memoryless state feedback robust controller and the maximum bound of time delay are obtained based on the solution of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) which are established by the Lyapunov-Krasovskii stability theory. Numerical examples are given to illustrate the effectiveness of design procedure.