Using channel state feedback to achieve resilience to deep fades in wireless networked control systems

Abstract

Wireless networked control systems (WNCS) consist of several dynamical systems that exchange information over a wireless radio (RF) communication network. These RF networks are subject to deep fades where the effective link throughput drops precipitously. Deep fading negatively impacts WNCS performance and stability, but in many applications the probability of a deep fade is a function of the system state. This suggests that one can use channel state information (CSI) as a feedback signal to recover some of the performance lost. This paper derives necessary and sufficient conditions for the almost sure stability of WNCS in the presence of deep fading. These conditions relate the channel's state to the WNCS's convergence rate. This paper uses this fact to reconfigure WNCS controllers to recover system performance in the presence of such fades. The results are illustrated using a leader-follower scenario found in vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) applications.