Turnpike Properties in Discrete-Time Mixed-Integer Optimal Control

This note discusses properties of parametric discrete-time Mixed-Integer Optimal Control Problems (MIOCPs) as they often arise in model predictive control with discrete controls. We argue that, in want for a handle on similarity properties of parametric MIOCPs, the turnpike phenomenon known in optimal control is helpful. We provide sufficient turnpike conditions based on a dissipativity notion of MIOCPs, and we prove that the turnpike phenomenon allows specific and accurate guesses for the discrete controls. We also derive an easily checkable sufficient condition for dissipativity of linear-quadratic MIOCPs. Moreover, we show how the turnpike property can be used to derive efficient node-weighted branch-and-bound schemes tailored to parametric MIOCPs. We draw upon numerical examples to illustrate our findings.