Exponential Synchronization of Complex Delayed Dynamical Networks With Switching Topology

This paper studies the local and global exponential synchronization of a complex dynamical network with switching topology and time-varying coupling delays. By using stability theory of switched systems and the network topology, the synchronization of such a network under some special switching signals is investigated. Firstly, under the assumption that all subnetworks are self-synchronizing, a delay-dependent sufficient condition is given in terms of linear matrix inequalities, which guarantees the solvability of the local synchronization problem under an average dwell time scheme. Then this result is extended to the situation that not all subnetworks are self-synchronizing. For the latter case, in addition to average dwell time, an extra condition on the ratio of the total activation time of self-synchronizing and nonsynchronizing subnetworks is needed to achieve synchronization of the entire switched network. The global synchronization of a network whose isolate dynamics is of a particular form is also studied. Three different examples of delayed dynamical networks with switching topology are given, which demonstrate the effectiveness of obtained results.