Design and Practical Implementation of a New Markov Model Predictive Controller for Variable Communication Packet Loss in Network Control Systems

The current paper investigates the influence of packet losses in network control systems (NCS’s) using the model predictive control (MPC) strategy. The study focuses on two main network packet losses due to sensor to controller and controller to actuator along the communication paths. A new Markov-based method is employed to recursively estimate the probability of time delay in controller to actuator path and a generalized predictive control (GPC) method is proposed to compensate the effect of big network time-delay, which leads to packet loss. The proposed methods and algorithms have been evaluated using a practical Smar fieldbus pilot plant to judge the efficiency of the foregoing algorithms. The obtained results clearly demonstrate the superiorities of the proposed control scheme with respect to standard MPC algorithm.