Observer-based H∞ control of networked systems with stochastic communication protocol: The finite-horizon case

This paper is concerned with the H∞ control problem for a class of linear time-varying networked control systems (NCSs) with stochastic communication protocol (SCP). The sensor-to-controller network (the controller-to-actuator network) is considered where only one sensor (one actuator) obtains access to the communication network at each transmission instant. The SCP is applied to determine which sensor (actuator) should be given the access to the network at a certain instant. The aim of the problem addressed is to design an observer-based controller such that the H∞ performance of the closed-loop system is guaranteed over a given finite horizon. For the purpose of simplifying the NCS model, a new Markov chain is constructed to model the SCP scheduling of communication networks. Then, both the methods of stochastic analysis and completing squares are utilized to establish the sufficient conditions for the existence of the desired controller. The controller parameters are characterized by solving two coupled backward recursive Riccati difference equations subject to the scheduled SCP. Finally, a numerical example is given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed controller design scheme.