On the gap between the structural controllability of time-varying and time-invariant systems

Structural controllability of time-invariant and time-varying systems when the input control sequences have a restricted length k is compared. The dimensions of controllable space coincide in the following three special cases: the input sequences have length k=2; the input sequences have k=n, where n is the size of the system (i.e., the ultimate controllability is the same in both cases); and for every length of input sequences provided that the system has a single input only. It is proved that there may appear a gap for every input length k such that 2< k⩽n/2. The case when n/2<k<n is left open