A method for testing driven dynamical systems with evolved excitations and its application to phase-locked loops

Differential evolution is used to search the parameter space of a system of ordinary differential equations (ODEs). For each tested parameter set, one time series resulting from integration of the ODE system is used to drive a dynamic system of interest. A fitness function is designed such that the response of the driven system is forced to have properties that are desirable to the practitioner. The dynamic versatility of a nonlinear ODE system coupled with an evolutionary algorithm search of its parameter space allows for significant improvement in excitation fitness. This input tailoring technique is generally applicable to a number of problems and is shown in this work to generate a chaotic modulation that reduces the power required to disrupt normal operation of a phase-locked loop.