Inverted pendulum stabilization through the Ethernet network, performance analysis

Networked control systems are becoming more and more attractive due to lower costs of installation, maintenance and scalability compared to traditional ones. However, problems due to the transmission delay cannot be neglected. Referring to a single subnet network, the induced delay affects control performances depending both on the medium access control (MAC) method and on the network load. In this work, the performances loss due to the Ethernet MAC method on a pole placement controller, an optimal controller, and an H/sub /spl infin// controller are analyzed by means of simulations while stabilizing an inverted pendulum model. Issues concerning the choice of the controller sampling period and the available network bandwidth are considered.