CADCS and Parallel Computing

Abstract

In modern control engineering the field of Computer Aided Design in Control Systems has become a major area of research, which involves many topics: simulation, analysis and design of control systems, linear and nonlinear control, multivariable control, frequency-domain and time-domain analysis, state-space systems, continuous-time and discrete-time systems, etc.. Current CADCS software packages cover the whole spectrum of classical and modern control theory. As in many areas of science the arrival of performant microcomputers and minicomputers has boosted the level of fundamental and applied research. In CADCS new advanced and complex numerical control algorithms are continuously being developed and refined. The real-time application of these powerful control methods is however very much limited, especially in time-critical situations, due to the physical speed limits of todays microprocessors. The arrival of new computer architectures, s.a. vector computing and parallel processing, and new technologies, s.a. GaAs chips and optical fibres, can offer a breakthrough to the current computing limitations. It is now generally believed that concurrent processing is the only way to further increase computer performance and to keep the cost/performance ratio within reasonable bounds.