Predictive control for networked systems affected by correlated packet loss

Abstract

In this paper, we consider the predictive control problem of designing receding horizon controllers for networked linear systems subject to random packet loss in the controller to actuator link. The packet dropouts are temporarily correlated in the sense that they obey a Markovian transition model. Our design task is to solve the optimal controller that minimizes a given receding horizon cost function, using the available packet loss history. Due to the correlated nature of the packet loss, standard linear quadratic regulator methods do not apply. We first present the optimal control law by considering the correlations. This controller turns out to depend on the packet loss history and would typically require a large lookup table for implementation when the Markovian order is high. To address this issue, we present and compare several suboptimal design approaches to reduce the number of control laws.