An ISS Small-Gain Theorem for General Networks

We provide a generalized version of the nonlinear small-gain theorem for the case of more than two coupled input-to-state stable (ISS) systems. For this result the interconnection gains are described in a nonlinear gain matrix and the small-gain condition requires bounds on the image of this gain matrix. The condition may be interpreted as a nonlinear generalization of the requirement that the spectral radius of the gain matrix is less than one. We give some interpretations of the condition in special cases covering two subsystems, linear gains, linear systems and an associated artificial dynamical system.Comment: 26 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Mathematics of Control, Signals, and Systems (MCSS