Stabilization of Networked Control Systems under Feedback-based Communication

Abstract

We study the stabilization of a networked control system (NCS) in which multiple sensors and actuators of a physical plant share a communication medium to exchange information with a remote controller. The plant's sensors and actuators are allowed only limited access to the controller at any one time, in a way that is decided on-line using a feedback-based communication policy. Our NCS model departs from those in previous formulations in that the controller and plant handle communication disruptions by ``ignoring'' (in a sense that will be made precise) sensors and actuators that are not actively communicating. We present an algorithm that provides a complete and straightforward method for simultaneously determining stabilizing gains and communication policies and avoids the computational complexity and limitations associated with some previously proposed models. We introduce three feedback-based scheduling policies that quadratically stabilize the closed-loop NCS while achieving various objectives related to the system's rate of convergence, the priorities of different sensors and actuators, and the avoidance of chattering.