Nonparametric estimation for normalized coprime factors of a MIMO system

This paper extends to multi-input multi-output (MIMO) systems the results on frequency response estimation for normalized coprime factors (NCF) under a stochastic framework from closed-loop frequency domain experimental data. Under the condition that the covariance matrices are available for the external disturbances and measurement errors, an analytic solution has been obtained for the maximum likelihood estimate (MLE), on the basis of a linear fractional transformation (LFT) representation for all the plant possible normalized right coprime factors (NRCF). It is proved that the estimate can be expressed by a linear combination of a normalized random matrix with all its columns having independent complex normal distributions. Some methods are suggested to reduce the estimation bias when high-quality experimental data can be obtained. A numerical example is included that confirms the theoretical results.