The complex structured singular value

A tutorial introduction to the complex structured singular value (μ) is presented, with an emphasis on the mathematical aspects of μ. The μ-based methods discussed here have been useful for analysing the performance and robustness properties of linear feedback systems. Several tests for robust stability and performance with computable bounds for transfer functions and their state space realizations are compared, and a simple synthesis problem is studied. Uncertain systems are represented using Linear Fractional Transformations (LFTs) which naturally unify the frequency-domain and state space methods

Robust control of ill-conditioned plants: high-purity distillation

Using a high-purity distillation column as an example, the physical reason for the poor conditioning and its implications on control system design and performance are explained. It is shown that an acceptable performance/robustness tradeoff cannot be obtained by simple loop-shaping techniques (using singular values) and that a good understanding of the model uncertainty is essential for robust control system design. Physically motivated uncertainty descriptions (actuator uncertainties) are translated into the H∞/structured singular value framework, which is demonstrated to be a powerful tool to analyze and understand the complex phenomena

Computational complexity of μ calculation

The structured singular value μ measures the robustness of uncertain systems. Numerous researchers over the last decade have worked on developing efficient methods for computing μ. This paper considers the complexity of calculating μ with general mixed real/complex uncertainty in the framework of combinatorial complexity theory. In particular, it is proved that the μ recognition problem with either pure real or mixed real/complex uncertainty is NP-hard. This strongly suggests that it is futile to pursue exact methods for calculating μ of general systems with pure real or mixed uncertainty for other than small problems

On the gap between the complex structured singular value and its convex upper bound

Published versio

Computation of the Structured Singular Value via Moment LMI Relaxations

The Structured Singular Value (SSV) provides a powerful tool to test robust stability and performance of feedback systems subject to structured uncertainties. Unfortunately, computing the SSV is an NP-hard problem, and the polynomial-time algorithms available in the literature are only able to provide, except for some special cases, upper and lower bounds on the exact value of the SSV. In this work, we present a new algorithm to compute an upper bound on the SSV in case of mixed real/complex uncertainties. The underlying idea of the developed approach is to formulate the SSV computation as a (nonconvex) polynomial optimization problem, which is relaxed into a sequence of convex optimization problems through moment-based relaxation techniques. Two heuristics to compute a lower bound on the SSV are also discussed. The analyzed numerical examples show that the developed approach provides tighter bounds than the ones computed by the algorithms implemented in the Robust Control Toolbox in Matlab, and it provides, in most of the cases, coincident lower and upper bounds on the structured singular value

Computation of the Structured Singular Value via Moment LMI Relaxations

The Structured Singular Value (SSV) provides a powerful tool to test robust stability and performance of feedback systems subject to structured uncertainties. Unfortunately, computing the SSV is an NP-hard problem, and the polynomial-time algorithms available in the literature are only able to provide, except for some special cases, upper and lower bounds on the exact value of the SSV. In this work, we present a new algorithm to compute an upper bound on the SSV in case of mixed real/complex uncertainties. The underlying idea of the developed approach is to formulate the SSV computation as a (nonconvex) polynomial optimization problem, which is relaxed into a sequence of convex optimization problems through moment-based relaxation techniques. Two heuristics to compute a lower bound on the SSV are also discussed. The analyzed numerical examples show that the developed approach provides tighter bounds than the ones computed by the algorithms implemented in the Robust Control Toolbox in Matlab, and it provides, in most of the cases, coincident lower and upper bounds on the structured singular value

Five-Full-Block Structured Singular Values of Real Matrices Equal Their Upper Bounds

We show that the structured singular value of a real matrix with respect to five full complex uncertainty blocks equals its convex upper bound. This is done by formulating the equality conditions as a feasibility SDP and invoking a result on the existence of a low-rank solution. A counterexample is given for the case of six uncertainty blocks. Known results are also revisited using the proposed approach