On the rate of convergence of continuous-time linear positive systems with heterogeneous time-varying delays

In this work, a set of conditions are presented for establishing exponential stability and bounds on the convergence rates of both general and positive linear systems with heterogeneous time-varying delays. First, a sufficient condition for delay-independent exponential stability of general linear systems is derived. When the time delays have a known upper bound, we present an explicit expression that bounds the decay rate of the system. We demonstrate that the best decay rate that our bound can guarantee can be easily found via convex optimization techniques. Finally, for positive linear systems, we show that the stability condition that we have developed is also necessary. The validity of the results is demonstrated via numerical examples.