Limiting Behavior of Hybrid Time-Varying Systems

Abstract

Checking uniform attractivity of a time-varying dynamic system without a strict Lyapunov function is challenging as it requires the characterization of the limiting behavior of a set of trajectories. In the context of hybrid nonlinear time-varying systems, characterizing such limiting or convergent behaviors is even harder due to the complexity stemming from both continuous-time variations as well as discrete-time jumps. In this article, an extension of the standard hybrid time domain is introduced to define limiting behaviors, using set convergence, when time approaches either positive infinity or negative infinity. In particular, it is shown how to characterize limiting behaviors under the condition that an output signal approaches zero. Such limiting behaviors and their associated limiting systems can be used to verify uniform global attractivity. Particularly, a generalization of the classic Krasovskii–LaSalle theorem is obtained for hybrid time-varying systems. Two examples are used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the results.