Design of State-based Schedulers for a Network of Control Loops

For a closed-loop system, which has a contention-based multiple access network on its sensor link, the Medium Access Controller (MAC) may discard some packets when the traffic on the link is high. We use a local state-based scheduler to select a few critical data packets to send to the MAC. In this paper, we analyze the impact of such a scheduler on the closed-loop system in the presence of traffic, and show that there is a dual effect with state-based scheduling. In general, this makes the optimal scheduler and controller hard to find. However, by removing past controls from the scheduling criterion, we find that certainty equivalence holds. This condition is related to the classical result of Bar-Shalom and Tse, and it leads to the design of a scheduler with a certainty equivalent controller. This design, however, does not result in an equivalent system to the original problem, in the sense of Witsenhausen. Computing the estimate is difficult, but can be simplified by introducing a symmetry constraint on the scheduler. Based on these findings, we propose a dual predictor architecture for the closed-loop system, which ensures separation between scheduler, observer and controller. We present an example of this architecture, which illustrates a network-aware event-triggering mechanism.Comment: 17 pages, technical repor

Contention-based Multiple Access Architectures for Networked Control Systems

Networked Control Systems (NCSs) use a wireless network for communication between sensors and controllers, and require a Medium Access Controller (MAC) to arbitrate access to the shared medium. Traditionally, a MAC for control systems is chosen primarily based on the delay it introduces in the closed loop. This thesis focuses on the design of a contention-based MAC, in a time-varying, resource-constrained network for closed loop systems. In this thesis, we advocate the use of a state-aware MAC, as opposed to an agnostic MAC, for NCSs. A state-aware MAC uses the state of the plant to influence access to the network. The state-aware policy is realized using two different approaches in the MAC: a regulatory formulation and an adaptive prioritization. Our first approach is a regulatory MAC, which serves to reduce the traffic in the network. We use a local state-based scheduler to select a few critical data packets to send to the MAC. We analyze the impact of such a scheduler on the closed loop system, and show that there is a dual effect for the control signal, which makes determining the optimal controller difficult. We also identify restrictions on the scheduling criterion that result in a separation of the scheduler, observer and controller designs. Our second approach is a prioritized MAC that uses state-based priorities called Attentions, to determine access to the network. We use a dominance protocol called tournaments, to evaluate priorities in a contention-based setting, and analyze the resulting performance of the MAC. We also consider a NCS that uses a wireless multihop mesh network for communication between the controller and actuator. We design an optimal controller, which uses packet delivery predictions from a recursive Bayesian network estimator.QC 2011021

State-based Channel Access for a Network of Control Systems

Wireless networked control systems use shared wireless links to communicate between sensors and controllers, and require a channel access policy to arbitrate access to the links. Existing multiple access protocols perform this role in an agnostic manner, by remaining insular to the applications that run over the network. This approach does not give satisfactory control performance guarantees. To enable the use of wireless networks in emerging industrial applications, we must be able to systematically design wireless networked control systems that provide guaranteed performances in resource-constrained networks. In this thesis, we advocate the use of state-based channel access policies. A state-based policy uses the state of the controlled plant to influence access to the network. The state contains information about not only the plant, but also the network, due to the feedback in the system. Thus, by using the state to decide when and how frequently to transmit, a control system can adapt its contribution to the network traffic, and enable the network to adapt access to the plant state. We show that such an approach can provide better performance than existing methods. We examine two different state-based approaches that are distributed and easy to implement on wireless devices: event-based scheduling and adaptive prioritization. Our first approach uses events to reduce the traffic in the network. We use a state-based scheduler in every plant sensor to generate non-coordinated channel access requests by selecting a few critical data packets, or events, for transmission. The network uses a contention resolution mechanism to deal with simultaneous channel access requests. We present three main contributions for this formulation. The first contribution is a structural analysis of stochastic event-based systems, where we identify a dual predictor architecture that results in separation in design of the state-based scheduler, observer and controller. The second contribution is a Markov model that describes the interactions in a network of event-based systems. The third contribution is an analysis of the stability of event-based systems, leading to a stabilizing design of event-based policies. Our second approach uses state-based priorities to determine access to the network. We use a dominance protocol to evaluate priorities in a contention-based setting, and characterize the resulting control performance. An implementation and evaluation of this channel access mechanism on sensor nodes is also presented. The thesis finally examines the general networked control problem of jointly optimizing measurement and control policies, when a nonlinear measurement policy is used to perform quantization, event-triggering or companding. This contribution focuses on some of the fundamental aspects of analyzing and synthesizing control systems with state-based measurement policies in a more generalized setting. We comment on the dual effect, certainty equivalence and separation properties for this problem. In particular, we show that it is optimal to apply separation and certainty equivalence to a design problem that permits a dynamic choice of the measurement and control policies.QC 20140408</p

Stability analysis of multiple state-based schedulers with CSMA

In this paper, we identify sufficient conditions for Lyapunov Mean Square Stability (LMSS) of a contention-based network of first-order systems, with state-based schedulers. The stability analysis helps us to choose policies for adapting the scheduler threshold to the delay from the network and scheduler. We show that three scheduling laws can result in LMSS: constant-probability laws and additively increasing or decreasing probability laws. Our results counter the notions that increasing probability scheduling laws alone can guarantee stability of the closed-loop system, or that decreasing probability scheduling laws are required to mitigate congestion in the network.QC 20130116</p

Multiple access with attention-based tournaments for monitoring over wireless networks

Wireless sensor networks for control and moni- toring applications introduce critical constraints on the design of multiple access schemes. Controlling dynamic processes requires that priority must be given to critical systems for the use of the wireless medium. Tournaments in the medium access control (MAC) layer are presented as a way to evaluate priorities and assign channel resources in a distributed manner. The priorities are dynamically assigned based on the attention that each data packet requires. A mathematical formulation of attention is presented together with the corresponding performance analysis of the multiple access scheme. Priorities based on the attention emphasize the information content in the data to be transmitted and the related process dynamics. It is shown that under certain conditions, the performance of this distributed scheme converges to a scheduling policy based on minimizing the per-sample variance of the error in the estimates obtained with limited communication resources. Sustainable data rates for a cluster of linear processes are also derived.QC 20111117</p

LQG and medium access control

The communication channel is a shared resource in networked control systems, and channel access at every instant cannot be guaranteed. In this paper, we propose a novel architecture for control over wireless networks with integrated medium access control (MAC). We evaluate the impact of constrained channel access on the cost of controlling a single plant over a network and establish that the separation principle holds under certain conditions on the MAC. We arrive at a classification of random access methods for networked control systems and identify a structure for each method. Then, by evaluating the increase in cost compared to a conventional setup, we identify an adaptive random access method which uses a threshold-based decision criteria on the current data to determine channel access. Finally, we give stability criteria for control applications using these medium access methods