Adaptive Controller Placement for Wireless Sensor-Actuator Networks with Erasure Channels

Wireless sensor-actuator networks offer flexibility for control design. One novel element which may arise in networks with multiple nodes is that the role of some nodes does not need to be fixed. In particular, there is no need to pre-allocate which nodes assume controller functions and which ones merely relay data. We present a flexible architecture for networked control using multiple nodes connected in series over analog erasure channels without acknowledgments. The control architecture proposed adapts to changes in network conditions, by allowing the role played by individual nodes to depend upon transmission outcomes. We adopt stochastic models for transmission outcomes and characterize the distribution of controller location and the covariance of system states. Simulation results illustrate that the proposed architecture has the potential to give better performance than limiting control calculations to be carried out at a fixed node.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures, to be published in Automatic

Data Transmission Over Networks for Estimation and Control

We consider the problem of controlling a linear time invariant process when the controller is located at a location remote from where the sensor measurements are being generated. The communication from the sensor to the controller is supported by a communication network with arbitrary topology composed of analog erasure channels. Using a separation principle, we prove that the optimal linear-quadratic-Gaussian (LQG) controller consists of an LQ optimal regulator along with an estimator that estimates the state of the process across the communication network. We then determine the optimal information processing strategy that should be followed by each node in the network so that the estimator is able to compute the best possible estimate in the minimum mean squared error sense. The algorithm is optimal for any packet-dropping process and at every time step, even though it is recursive and hence requires a constant amount of memory, processing and transmission at every node in the network per time step. For the case when the packet drop processes are memoryless and independent across links, we analyze the stability properties and the performance of the closed loop system. The algorithm is an attempt to escape the viewpoint of treating a network of communication links as a single end-to-end link with the probability of successful transmission determined by some measure of the reliability of the network

Optimizing controller location in networked control systems with packet drops

Abstract In networked control, there is locational freedom in choosing the node at which to locate the controller, so as to mitigate the effects of packet losses in the network. What is the optimal location for the placement of the control logic? Second, what is the optimal control law in that position? The difficulty in answering these two questions is that analysis of optimality in networked control systems subject to random packet drops suffers from Witsenhausen's 'non-classical information pattern'. Thus, the general problem is considered intractable. We make headway on this problem by using a "Long Packet Assumption", LPA, which allows packets to be arbitrarily long. This is not intended for implementation, but only to develop a lower bound on the cost. In particular, under this assumption the optimal controller location can be shown to be collocated with the actuator. For this position, under the LPA, we can also calculate the optimal cost, which is then a lower bound on the optimal cost for the original problem for all locations. Despite the apparent strength of the LPA, we have found that this lower bound is often close to currently realizable upper bounds. This establishes the near optimality of currently implementable controllers in such instances. Using the lower bound on cost we obtain a necessary condition for stabilizability over all controller locations. This condition matches known sufficient conditions for some special cases, thus establishing a necessary and sufficient condition for location optimized stabilizability of networked control systems with packet loss. * This material is based upon work partially supported by NSF under Contract Nos. ECCS-0701604, CCR-0325716 and CNS 05-19535, USARO under Contract No. DAAD19-01010-46

Design methods for networked control systems with unreliable channels focusing on packet dropouts

Texto completo descargado en TeseoLos sistemas de control a través de redes se han convertido en un área importante dentro de la comunidad de control, lo cual es debido a su bajo coste y a la flexibilidad de sus aplicaciones. Los sistemas de control a través de redes (NCSs) se componen de sensores, actuadores y controladores; las operaciones entre ellos se coordinan a través de una red de comunicación. Típicamente, estos sistemas están espacialmente distribuidos, y pueden funcionar de manera asíncrona, pero sus operaciones han de estar coordinadas para conseguir los objetivos deseados. En este resumen se presenta una perspectiva general de los NCSs, y en particular, los casos específicos en los que se ha basado esta tesis, abordando los temas principales relacionados con NCS, con todos los problemas y ventajas asociados, se describen en este resumen. Por último, se presenta un índice de la tesis con sus contribuciones más relevantes. - Introducción a los Sistemas de Control a través de Red Los Sistemas de Control a través de Red (NCSs) son sistemas espacialmente distribuidos donde la comunicación entre plantas, sensores, actuadores y controladores se realiza a través de una red de comunicación. La complejidad en el diseño y la realización, el coste del cableado, la instalación y el mantenimiento pueden ser reducidos drásticamente incluyendo una red de comunicación. Sin embargo, las redes de comunicación en los sistemas también traen algunos incovenientes como los retrasos y la pérdida de datos, los errores de codificación, etc. Estos incovenientes pueden ser la causa de la de la degradación del comportamiento del sistema e incluso causar su desestabilización. Hoy en día, hay un gran número de situaciones prácticas en las que el uso de redes de comunicación para el control son necesarias para aplicaciones o procesos de control en ingeniería. Algunos ejemplos son: Situaciones en las que el espacio y el peso están limitados. Situaciones en las que las distancias a considerar son grandes. Aplicaciones de control donde el cableado no es posible. El uso de redes de comunicación digitales proporciona también algunas ventajas: La complejidad en el cableado en conexiones punto a punto se reduce mucho, así como el coste. Además, los costes de instalación pueden reducirse también drásticamente. La reducción en la complejidad del cableado hace mucho más fácil el diagnóstico y el mantenimiento del sistema, dando lugar a un ahorro en el coste debido a que la instalación y el funcionamiento tienen una eficiencia mayor. Los NCSs son flexibles y reconfigurables. Fiabilidad, redundancia y robustez ante los fallos. Los NCSs proporcionan modularidad, control descentralizado y diagnósticos integrados. Todas estas ventajas sugieren que los NCSs jugarán un papel principal en un futuro cercano, siendo un área de investigación muy prometedora. - Objetivos de la tesis La idea general de esta tesis es proponer algunas soluciones novedosas a diferentes problemas relacionados con NCSs. Todos los problemas considerados son típicos dentro del marco del control a través de redes, considerándose principalmente el de las pérdidas de paquetes en la transmisión de datos. Dentro del contexto de sistemas con pérdida de paquetes, se han estudiado diferentes problemas. Para obtener soluciones diferentes para este tipo de sistemas, se han considerado los siguientes objetivos: Diseño de controladores. Controladores Hinf, que consigan la robustificación de sistemas con incertidumbres. Controladores MPC, combinados con estrategias de buffer. Diseño de filtros. Filtros Hinf para sistemas con incertidumbres, usando técnicas frecuenciales y cadenas de Markov. Diseño de algoritmos. Localización dinámica de un control distribuido en una red formada por una estructura matricial de nodos. Localización dinámica del estimador de la salida del sistema, en una red formada por una estructura lineal de nodos. Estimación distribuida cooperativa. Basada en observadores locales de Luenberger. - Conclusiones Uno de los objetivos de esta tesis ha sido el análisis de la estabilidad y comportamiento de sistemas bajo control. En algunos casos, el diseño se ha realizado imponiendo restricciones en cuanto a la estabilidad. La robustificación de sistemas, en particular la de aquellos con incertidumbres, ha sido también tenida en cuenta. Las técnicas de control Hinf se han usado en los casos de análisis y diseño de sistemas de control. Otro objetivo importante de esta tesis ha sido el diseño de algoritmos para una red dinámica, la cual está compuesta por cierta estructura de nodos. El algoritmo es capaz de decidir qué nodo será el controlador o el estimador de la salida del sistema en la red. La estabilidad y el comportamiento del sistema de control ha sido analizado. También se ha abordado el diseño de estimación y esquemas distribuidos. Se han considerado redes que introducen retrasos temporales, junto con pérdidas aleatorias. La reducción en el consumo de energía ha sido un objetivo importante en esta parte de la tesis. En este caso, se ha examinado una política de comunicación entre agentes basada en eventos, la cual da lugar a un compromiso entre el comportamiento del sistema y los ahorros en la comunicación

Optimal Sequence-Based Control of Networked Linear Systems

In Networked Control Systems (NCS), components of a control loop are connected by data networks that may introduce time-varying delays and packet losses into the system, which can severly degrade control performance. Hence, this book presents the newly developed S-LQG (Sequence-Based Linear Quadratic Gaussian) controller that combines the sequence-based control method with the well-known LQG approach to stochastic optimal control in order to compensate for the network-induced effects

Optimal Sequence-Based Control of Networked Linear Systems

In Networked Control Systems (NCS), components of a control loop are connected by data networks that may introduce time-varying delays and packet losses into the system, which can severly degrade control performance. Hence, this book presents the newly developed S-LQG (Sequence-Based Linear Quadratic Gaussian) controller that combines the sequence-based control method with the well-known LQG approach to stochastic optimal control in order to compensate for the network-induced effects

Taming and Leveraging Directionality and Blockage in Millimeter Wave Communications

To cope with the challenge for high-rate data transmission, Millimeter Wave(mmWave) is one potential solution. The short wavelength unlatched the era of directional mobile communication. The semi-optical communication requires revolutionary thinking. To assist the research and evaluate various algorithms, we build a motion-sensitive mmWave testbed with two degrees of freedom for environmental sensing and general wireless communication.The first part of this thesis contains two approaches to maintain the connection in mmWave mobile communication. The first one seeks to solve the beam tracking problem using motion sensor within the mobile device. A tracking algorithm is given and integrated into the tracking protocol. Detailed experiments and numerical simulations compared several compensation schemes with optical benchmark and demonstrated the efficiency of overhead reduction. The second strategy attempts to mitigate intermittent connections during roaming is multi-connectivity. Taking advantage of properties of rateless erasure code, a fountain code type multi-connectivity mechanism is proposed to increase the link reliability with simplified backhaul mechanism. The simulation demonstrates the efficiency and robustness of our system design with a multi-link channel record.The second topic in this thesis explores various techniques in blockage mitigation. A fast hear-beat like channel with heavy blockage loss is identified in the mmWave Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) communication experiment due to the propeller blockage. These blockage patterns are detected through Holm\u27s procedure as a problem of multi-time series edge detection. To reduce the blockage effect, an adaptive modulation and coding scheme is designed. The simulation results show that it could greatly improve the throughput given appropriately predicted patterns. The last but not the least, the blockage of directional communication also appears as a blessing because the geometrical information and blockage event of ancillary signal paths can be utilized to predict the blockage timing for the current transmission path. A geometrical model and prediction algorithm are derived to resolve the blockage time and initiate active handovers. An experiment provides solid proof of multi-paths properties and the numeral simulation demonstrates the efficiency of the proposed algorithm

Cognitive Vehicle Platooning in the Era of Automated Electric Transportation

Vehicle platooning is an important innovation in the automotive industry that aims at improving safety, mileage, efficiency, and the time needed to travel. This research focuses on the various aspects of vehicle platooning, one of the important aspects being analysis of different control strategies that lead to a stable and robust platoon. Safety of passengers being a very important consideration, the control design should be such that the controller remains robust under uncertain environments. As a part of the Department of Energy (DOE) project, this research also tries to show a demonstration of vehicle platooning using robots. In an automated highway scenario, a vehicle platoon can be thought of as a string of vehicles, following one another as a platoon. Being equipped by wireless communication capabilities, these vehicles communicate with one another to maintain their formation as a platoon, hence are cognitive. Autonomous capable vehicles in tightly spaced, computer-controlled platoons will lead to savings in energy due to reduced aerodynamic forces, as well as increased passenger comfort since there will be no sudden accelerations or decelerations. Impacts in the occurrence of collisions, if any, will be very low. The greatest benefit obtained is, however, an increase in highway capacity, along with reduction in traffic congestion, pollution, and energy consumption. Another aspect of this project is the automated electric transportation (AET). This aims at providing energy directly to vehicles from electric highways, thus reducing their energy consumption and CO2 emission. By eliminating the use of overhead wires, infrastructure can be upgraded by electrifying highways and providing energy on demand and in real time to moving vehicles via a wireless energy transfer phenomenon known as wireless inductive coupling. The work done in this research will help to gain an insight into vehicle platooning and the control system related to maintaining the vehicles in this formation