Robust Stabilization of a Class of Nonlinear Systems Controlled Over Communication Networks

The paper deals with the stabilization of nonlinear systems in which the loop is closed over a lossy nonacknowledged communication network. Given a Regional Inputto- State (ISS) stabilizing state-feedback control law, designed without accounting for the network-induced delays, we propose a non-acknowledged communication policy that allows to deploy the above controller over the network without any modification, while preserving the Regional ISS property. The time-varying delays and packet dropouts occurring on both the up-link and the down-link are compensated through a model-based prediction scheme and a packet-management policy based on time-stamping. The consistency of the prediction, which is a major issue in the context of nonlinear systems with an embedded networked controller, is guaranteed through the exploitation of a novel moveblocking strategy for computing the command sequence to be forwarded to the actuators.