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Information-theoretic approach to the study of control systems
We propose an information-theoretic framework for analyzing control systems
based on the close relationship of controllers to communication channels. A
communication channel takes an input state and transforms it into an output
state. A controller, similarly, takes the initial state of a system to be
controlled and transforms it into a target state. In this sense, a controller
can be thought of as an actuation channel that acts on inputs to produce
desired outputs. In this transformation process, two different control
strategies can be adopted: (i) the controller applies an actuation dynamics
that is independent of the state of the system to be controlled (open-loop
control); or (ii) the controller enacts an actuation dynamics that is based on
some information about the state of the controlled system (closed-loop
control). Using this communication channel model of control, we provide
necessary and sufficient conditions for a system to be perfectly controllable
and perfectly observable in terms of information and entropy. In addition, we
derive a quantitative trade-off between the amount of information gathered by a
closed-loop controller and its relative performance advantage over an open-loop
controller in stabilizing a system. This work supplements earlier results [H.
Touchette, S. Lloyd, Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 1156 (2000)] by providing new
derivations of the advantage afforded by closed-loop control and by proposing
an information-based optimality criterion for control systems. New applications
of this approach pertaining to proportional controllers, and the control of
chaotic maps are also presented.Comment: 18 pages, 7 eps figure
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