Book 275

This book incorporates data rate issues that arise in control design for systems involving communication networks. The general setup is that, given a plant, a communication channel with limited data rate and control objectives, one must find a controller that uses the channel in the feedback loop to achieve the control objectives. The theoretical question of interest is to find the minimum data rate necessary for the channel. This book is motivated by the recent developments in communication technology and aims at engineers and scientists in this field. The use of networks has become common practice in many control applications connecting sensors/actuators to controllers. The book therefore provides the fundamentals of the networks used in control systems, based on hybrid systems theory. The book focuses on the use of networks in distributed systems and on quantization in messages sent over networks.

Book 465

This book investigates the performance limitation issues in networked feedback systems. The fact that networked feedback systems consist of control and communication devices and systems calls for the integration of control theory and information theory. The primary contributions of this book lie in two aspects: the newly-proposed information-theoretic measures and the newly-discovered control performance limitations. We first propose a number of information notions to facilitate the analysis. Using those notions, classes of performance limitations of networked feedback systems, as well as state estimation systems, are then investigated. In general, the book presents a unique, cohesive treatment of performance limitation issues of networked feedback systems via an information-theoretic approach. This book is believed to be the first to treat the aforementioned subjects systematically and in a unified manner, offering a unique perspective differing from existing books.