Fractional models for modeling complex linear systems under poor frequency resolution measurements

When modeling a linear system in a parametric way, one needs to deal with (i) model structure selection, (ii) model order selection as well as (iii) an accurate fit of the model. The most popular model structure for linear systems has a rational form which reveals crucial physical information and insight due to the accessibility of poles and zeros. In the model order selection step, one needs to specify the number of poles and zeros in the model. Automated model order selectors like Akaikeʼs Information Criterion (AIC) and the Minimum Description Length (MDL) are popular choices. A large model order in combination with poles and zeros lying closer to each other in frequency than the frequency resolution indicates that the modeled system exhibits some fractional behavior. Classical integer order techniques cannot handle this fractional behavior due to the fact that the poles and zeros are lying to close to each other to be resolvable and not enough data is available for the classical integer order identification procedure. In this paper, we study the use of fractional order poles and zeros and introduce a fully automated algorithm which (i) estimates a large integer order model, (ii) detects the fractional behavior, and (iii) identifies a fractional order system.

► Complexity reduction integer order models.
► Automated fractional order model identification.
► Fractional order model selection.
► Dealing with high order systems.
► Dealing with closely spaced poles and zeros.