A model-based demand-balance control for complex urban traffic networks

Traffic control is an effective and efficient method for the problem of traffic congestion. For complex urban traffic networks, it is necessary to design a high-level controller to regulate the traffic demands. Under the parallel control framework for complex traffic networks, we design a demand-balance MPC controller based on the MFD-based multi-subnetwork model, which can optimize the network traffic mobility and the network traffic throughput by regulating the input traffic flows of the subnetworks. The transferring traffic flows among subnetworks are indirectly controlled by the demand-balance MPC controller, and a global optimality can be achieved for the entire traffic network. The simulation results show the effectiveness of the proposed controller in improving the network traffic throughput.