Enhanced LFR-toolbox for MATLAB and LFT-based gain scheduling

We describe recent developments and enhancements of the LFR-Toolbox for MATLAB for building LFT-based uncertainty models and for LFT-based gain scheduling. A major development is the new LFT-object definition supporting a large class of uncertainty descriptions: continuous- and discrete-time uncertain models, regular and singular parametric expressions, more general uncertainty blocks (nonlinear, time-varying, etc.). By associating names to uncertainty blocks the reusability of generated LFT-models and the user friendliness of manipulation of LFR-descriptions have been highly increased. Significant enhancements of the computational efficiency and of numerical accuracy have been achieved by employing efficient and numerically robust Fortran implementations of order reduction tools via mex-function interfaces. The new enhancements in conjunction with improved symbolical preprocessing lead generally to a faster generation of LFT-models with significantly lower orders. Scheduled gains can be viewed as LFT-objects. Two techniques for designing such gains are presented. Analysis tools are also considered

Bifurcation scenarios in an ordinary differential equation with constant and distributed delay: A case study

In this article we consider a model introduced by Ucar in order to simply describe chaotic behaviour with a one dimensional ODE containing a constant delay. We study the bifurcation problem of the equilibria and we obtain an approximation of the periodic orbits generated by the Hopf bifurcation. Moreover, we propose and analyse a more general model containing distributed time delay. Finally, we propose some ideas for further study. All the theoretical results are supported and illustrated by numerical simulations.Consejería de Economía, Innovación, Ciencia y Empleo, Junta de AndalucíaJunta de Andalucía 2010/FQM314Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad MTM2015-63723-P P12-FQM-1492Federación Española de Enfermedades Rara

Delay-Based Controller Design for Continuous-Time and Hybrid Applications

Motivated by the availability of different types of delays in embedded systems and biological circuits, the objective of this work is to study the benefits that delay can provide in simplifying the implementation of controllers for continuous-time systems. Given a continuous-time linear time-invariant (LTI) controller, we propose three methods to approximate this controller arbitrarily precisely by a simple controller composed of delay blocks, a few integrators and possibly a unity feedback. Different problems associated with the approximation procedures, such as finding the optimal number of delay blocks or studying the robustness of the designed controller with respect to delay values, are then investigated. We also study the design of an LTI continuous-time controller satisfying given control objectives whose delay-based implementation needs the least number of delay blocks. A direct application of this work is in the sampled-data control of a real-time embedded system, where the sampling frequency is relatively high and/or the output of the system is sampled irregularly. Based on our results on delay-based controller design, we propose a digital-control scheme that can implement every continuous-time stabilizing (LTI) controller. Unlike a typical sampled-data controller, the hybrid controller introduced here -— consisting of an ideal sampler, a digital controller, a number of modified second-order holds and possibly a unity feedback -— is robust to sampling jitter and can operate at arbitrarily high sampling frequencies without requiring expensive, high-precision computation

Cross-layer optimization in TCP/IP networks

TCP-AQM can be interpreted as distributed primal-dual algorithms to maximize aggregate utility over source rates. We show that an equilibrium of TCP/IP, if exists, maximizes aggregate utility over both source rates and routes, provided congestion prices are used as link costs. An equilibrium exists if and only if this utility maximization problem and its Lagrangian dual have no duality gap. In this case, TCP/IP incurs no penalty in not splitting traffic across multiple paths. Such an equilibrium, however, can be unstable. It can be stabilized by adding a static component to link cost, but at the expense of a reduced utility in equilibrium. If link capacities are optimally provisioned, however, pure static routing, which is necessarily stable, is sufficient to maximize utility. Moreover single-path routing again achieves the same utility as multipath routing at optimality

Models of Delay Differential Equations

This book gathers a number of selected contributions aimed at providing a balanced picture of the main research lines in the realm of delay differential equations and their applications to mathematical modelling. The contributions have been carefully selected so that they cover interesting theoretical and practical analysis performed in the deterministic and the stochastic settings. The reader will find a complete overview of recent advances in ordinary and partial delay differential equations with applications in other multidisciplinary areas such as Finance, Epidemiology or Engineerin

On the almost sure running maxima of solutions of affine stochastic functional differential equations

This paper studies the large fluctuations of solutions of scalar and finite-dimensional affine stochastic functional differential equations with finite memory as well as related nonlinear equations. We find conditions under which the exact almost sure growth rate of the running maximum of each component of the system can be determined, both for affine and nonlinear equations. The proofs exploit the fact that an exponentially decaying fundamental solution of the underlying deterministic equation is sufficient to ensure that the solution of the affine equation converges to a stationary Gaussian process

Boolean Delay Equations: A simple way of looking at complex systems

Boolean Delay Equations (BDEs) are semi-discrete dynamical models with Boolean-valued variables that evolve in continuous time. Systems of BDEs can be classified into conservative or dissipative, in a manner that parallels the classification of ordinary or partial differential equations. Solutions to certain conservative BDEs exhibit growth of complexity in time. They represent therewith metaphors for biological evolution or human history. Dissipative BDEs are structurally stable and exhibit multiple equilibria and limit cycles, as well as more complex, fractal solution sets, such as Devil's staircases and ``fractal sunbursts``. All known solutions of dissipative BDEs have stationary variance. BDE systems of this type, both free and forced, have been used as highly idealized models of climate change on interannual, interdecadal and paleoclimatic time scales. BDEs are also being used as flexible, highly efficient models of colliding cascades in earthquake modeling and prediction, as well as in genetics. In this paper we review the theory of systems of BDEs and illustrate their applications to climatic and solid earth problems. The former have used small systems of BDEs, while the latter have used large networks of BDEs. We moreover introduce BDEs with an infinite number of variables distributed in space (``partial BDEs``) and discuss connections with other types of dynamical systems, including cellular automata and Boolean networks. This research-and-review paper concludes with a set of open questions.Comment: Latex, 67 pages with 15 eps figures. Revised version, in particular the discussion on partial BDEs is updated and enlarge