Stabilization of large-scale systems and consensus of multi-agent systems with time delay - common features and differences

The stabilization problem for large-scale systems and the consensus problem of multi-agent systems are closely related. Moreover, as networked control is often applied in both cases, time delay must be in both problems taken into account. In spite of similarities of both problems, there are several important differences. This paper provides a thorough comparison of both problems. It is shown that heterogeneous delays prevent the multi-agent system from full synchronization, however, stabilization of the the large-scale network can be achieved though. Common phenomena as well as differences are thoroughly described.