Structural decomposition of linear multivariable systems using symbolic computations

We introduce a procedure written in the mathematics software suite Maple, which transforms linear time-invariant systems to a special coordinate basis that reveals the internal structure of the system. The procedure creates exact decompositions, based on matrices that contain elements represented by symbolic variables or exact fractions. The procedure is meant as a complement to numerical software algorithms developed by others for the same purpose. We illustrate use of the procedure by examples.