Global Convergence of a Class of Discrete-Time Interconnected Pendulum-Like Systems

Abstract

This paper focuses on a class of discrete-time interconnected pendulum-like systems. Sufficient conditions for the global convergence of systems with both structured and unstructured uncertainties in its linear part are established in terms of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). In the traditional decentralized control of large scale systems, the effects of interconnections were seldom studied. In this paper, a square matrix specifying the interconnecting structure is introduced in order to discuss the effects of nonlinear interconnections. It is shown that the global convergence of the whole interconnected system can be achieved by designing an appropriate interconnection matrix. In order to solve the nonlinear matrix inequalities (NMIs) arising in the synthesis problem, a global optimization algorithm is presented which can be used to handle a class of NMI problems. An illustrative example is given to demonstrate the applicability and validity of the main results and the presented algorithm.