Stabilization of Networked Control Systems with Access Constraints and Delays

This paper discusses the stabilization of linear networked control systems (NCSs) in which the medium connecting plant and controller imposes access constraints and known delays. We apply a communication protocol which "decouples" the stabilization problem, in the sense that the medium access policy can be selected independently of the controller while jointly stabilizing the NCS. Our approach is based on reducing the infinity of possible stabilizing communication policies down to a set of sequences which preserve the NCS's controllability and observability. We extend previously established results by treating delays and medium access constraints simultaneously and by demonstrating how a controller designed for a delay-free NCS can be re-used when delays are present. We include a numerical experiment that illustrates our approach