An energy-preserving nonlinear system modeling a string with input and output on the boundary

We study an energy conserving distributed parameter system described by a nonlinear string equation with the input and output at the boundary. We prove the existence of global smooth solutions to this quasilinear hyperbolic system if the initial data and the boundary input are small. If, moreover, the input function becomes zero after some finite time, then the state trajectories decay exponentially.