Robust Distributed MPC for Disturbed Affine Systems Using Predictions of Time-Varying Communication

This paper addresses the task of distributed model predictive control (DMPC) for a set of subsystems with affine dynamics including disturbances. For a set-up in which the subsystems are coupled through their cost functions and state constraints, we focus on the robustness of DMPC with respect to the delays of a communications network used for transmitting information between subsystems. As an alternative to existing schemes using a constant upper bound of communication delay, we here propose to employ predictions of time-varying communication delay, and we show that robustness can still be preserved.