Digital linear state feedback control subject to electromagnetic disturbances

High intensity electromagnetic radiation has been demonstrated to be a source of computer upsets in commercially available digital flight control systems. In this paper we present an analysis of one consequence of an electromagnetic disturbance: the flipping of bits in a computer word. Specifically, we analyze the closed-loop stability of a digital linear state feedback control law when the electromagnetic radiation causes the gain vector to be corrupted by bit errors in its floating-point representation. As an example, we analyze a stabilizing controller for the longitudinal dynamics of the AFTI/F-16 aircraft.