Single-Bit Consensus With Finite-Time Convergence: Theory and Applications

In this article, a new consensus protocol based on the sign of innovations is proposed. Based on this protocol, each agent requires only a single-bit of information about its relative state to its neighboring agents. This is significant in real-time applications, since it requires less computation and/or communication load on agents. Using Lyapunov stability theorem, the convergence is proved for networks having a spanning tree. Furthermore, the convergence is shown to be in finite time, which is significant as compared to most asymptotic protocols in the literature. Time-variant network topologies are also considered in this article, and final consensus value is derived for undirected networks. Applications of the proposed consensus protocol in two-dimensional (2-D)/3-D rendezvous task, distributed estimation distributed optimization, and formation control are considered and the significance of applying this protocol is discussed. Numerical simulations are provided to compare the protocol with those existing in the literature.