On general systems with network-enhanced complexities

In recent years, the study of networked control systems (NCSs) has gradually become an active research area due to the advantages of using networked media in many aspects such as the ease of maintenance and installation, the large flexibility and the low cost. It is well known that the devices in networks are mutually connected via communication cables that are of limited capacity. Therefore, some network-induced phenomena have inevitably emerged in the areas of signal processing and control engineering. These phenomena include, but are not limited to, network-induced communication delays, missing data, signal quantization, saturations, and channel fading. It is of great importance to understand how these phenomena influence the closed-loop stability and performance properties

Finite-time anti-synchronization of multi-weighted coupled neural networks with and without coupling delays

The multi-weighted coupled neural networks (MWCNNs) models with and without coupling delays are investigated in this paper. Firstly, the finite-time anti-synchronization of MWCNNs with fixed topology and switching topology is analyzed respectively by utilizing Lyapunov functional approach as well as some inequality techniques, and several anti-synchronization criteria are put forward for the considered networks. Furthermore, when the parameter uncertainties appear in MWCNNs, some conditions for ensuring robust finite-time anti-synchronization are obtained. Similarly, we also consider the finite-time anti-synchronization and robust finite-time anti-synchronization for MWCNNs with coupling delays under fixed and switched topologies respectively. Lastly, two numerical examples with simulations are provided to confirm the effectiveness of these derived results

Synchronization Control for Discrete-Time-Delayed Dynamical Networks with Switching Topology under Actuator Saturations

10.13039/501100001809-National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Number: 61773156, 61873148, 61673141 and 61933007); 10.13039/501100018551-Program for Science and Technology Innovation Talents in the Universities of Henan Province of China (Grant Number: 19HASTIT028); 10.13039/501100010029-Research Fund for the Taishan Scholar Project of Shandong Province of China; 10.13039/501100000288-Royal Society of the U.K.; 10.13039/100005156-Alexander von Humboldt Foundation of Germany

Maximum Correntropy Filtering for Complex Networks With Uncertain Dynamical Bias: Enabling Componentwise Event-Triggered Transmission

10.13039/501100001809-National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Number: 62203016, U2241214, T2121002 and 61933007);; 10.13039/501100002858-China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Grant Number: 2021TQ0009); Royal Society, U (Grant Number: 0000DONOTUSETHIS0000.K); Alexander von Humboldt Foundation of Germany

Nonlinear Systems

Open Mathematics is a challenging notion for theoretical modeling, technical analysis, and numerical simulation in physics and mathematics, as well as in many other fields, as highly correlated nonlinear phenomena, evolving over a large range of time scales and length scales, control the underlying systems and processes in their spatiotemporal evolution. Indeed, available data, be they physical, biological, or financial, and technologically complex systems and stochastic systems, such as mechanical or electronic devices, can be managed from the same conceptual approach, both analytically and through computer simulation, using effective nonlinear dynamics methods. The aim of this Special Issue is to highlight papers that show the dynamics, control, optimization and applications of nonlinear systems. This has recently become an increasingly popular subject, with impressive growth concerning applications in engineering, economics, biology, and medicine, and can be considered a veritable contribution to the literature. Original papers relating to the objective presented above are especially welcome subjects. Potential topics include, but are not limited to: Stability analysis of discrete and continuous dynamical systems; Nonlinear dynamics in biological complex systems; Stability and stabilization of stochastic systems; Mathematical models in statistics and probability; Synchronization of oscillators and chaotic systems; Optimization methods of complex systems; Reliability modeling and system optimization; Computation and control over networked systems

Robust Hybrid Systems for Control, Learning, and Optimization in Networked Dynamical Systems

The deployment of advanced real-time control and optimization strategies in socially-integratedengineering systems could significantly improve our quality of life whilecreating jobs and economic opportunity. However, in cyber-physical systems such assmart grids, transportation networks, healthcare, and robotic systems, there still existseveral challenges that prevent the implementation of intelligent control strategies.These challenges include the existence of limited communication networks, dynamicand stochastic environments, multiple decision makers interacting with the system,and complex hybrid dynamics emerging from the feedback interconnection of physicalprocesses and computational devices.In this dissertation, we study the problem of designing robust control and optimizationalgorithms for cyber-physical systems using the framework of hybrid dynamicalsystems. We propose different theoretical frameworks for the design and analysis offeedback mechanisms that optimize the performance of dynamical systems without requiringan explicit characterization of their mathematical model, i.e., in a model-freeway. The closed-loop system that emerges of the interconnection of the plant with thefeedback mechanism describes, in general, a set-valued hybrid dynamical system. Thesetypes of systems combine continuous-time and discrete-time dynamics, and they usuallylack the uniqueness of solutions property. The framework of set-valued hybriddynamical systems allows us to study many complex dynamical systems that emerge indifferent engineering applications, such as networked multi-agent systems with switching graphs, non-smooth mechanical systems, dynamic pricing mechanisms in transportationsystems, autonomous robots with logic-based controllers, etc. We proposea step-by-step approach to the design of different types of discrete-time, continuous-time,hybrid, and stochastic controllers for different types of applications, extendingand generalizing different results in the literature in the area of extremum seeking control,sampled-data extremization, robust synchronization, and stochastic learning innetworked systems. Our theoretical results are illustrated via different simulations andnumerical examples

Joint State and Fault Estimation of Complex Networks under Measurement Saturations and Stochastic Nonlinearities

10.13039/501100001809-National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Number: 61933007, 61873148, 62033008, 61703244 and 61873149); 10.13039/501100000266-Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (Grant Number: EP/T005734/1); Shandong Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Number: ZR2020MF071); Research Fund for the Taishan Scholar Project of Shandong Province of China; Alexander Von Humboldt Foundation of Germany

Networked Dynamical Systems: Privacy, Control, and Cognition

Many natural and man-made systems, ranging from thenervous system to power and transportation grids to societies, exhibitdynamic behaviors that evolve over a sparse and complex network. This networked aspect raises significant challenges and opportunities for the identification, analysis, and control of such dynamic behaviors. While some of these challenges emanate from the networked aspect \emph{per se} (such as the sparsity of connections between system components and the interplay between nodal \emph{communication} and network dynamics), various challenges arise from the specific application areas (such as privacy concerns in cyber-physical systems or the need for \emph{scalable} algorithm designs due to the large size of various biological and engineered networks). On the other hand, networked systems provide significant opportunities and allow for performance and robustness levels that are far beyond reach for centralized systems, with examples ranging from the Internet (of Things) to the smart grid and the brain. This dissertation aims to address several of these challenges and harness these opportunities. The dissertation is divided into three parts. In the first part, we study privacy concerns whose resolution is vital for the utility of networked cyber-physical systems. We study the problems of average consensus and convex optimization as two principal distributed computations occurring over networks and design algorithm with rigorous privacy guarantees that provide a \emph{best achievable} tradeoff between network utility and privacy. In the second part, we analyze networks with resource constraints. More specifically, we study three problems of stabilization under communication (bandwidth and latency) limitations in sensing and actuation, optimal time-varying control scheduling problem under limited number of actuators and control energy, and the structure identification problem of under-sensed networks (i.e., networks with latent nodes). Finally in the last part, we focus on the intersection of networked dynamical systems and neuroscience and draw connections between brain network dynamics and two extensively studied but yet not fully understood neuro-cognitive phenomena: goal-driven selective attention and neural oscillations. Using a novel axiomatic approach, we establish these connections in the form of necessary and/or sufficient conditions on the network structure that match the network output trajectories with experimentally observed brain activity