Delays in Distributed Estimation and Control over Communication Networks

This chapter introduces a distributed estimation and control technique with application to networked systems. The problem consists of monitoring and controlling a large-scale plant using a network of agents which collaborate exchanging information over an unreliable network. We propose an agent-based scheme based on an estimation structure that combines local measurements of the plant with remote information received from neighboring agents. We discuss the design of stabilizing distributed controllers and observers when the interagent communication is affected by delays and packet dropouts. Some simulations will be shown to illustrate the performance of this approach.