Performance limitations for linear feedback systems in the presence of plant uncertainty

The goal of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of fundamental performance limits for feedback control systems. In the literature to date on this topic, all available results assume that the designer has an exact model of the plant. Heuristically, however, one would expect that plant uncertainty should play a significant role in determining the best achievable performance. The goal of this paper is to investigate performance limitations for linear feedback control systems in the presence of plant uncertainty. We formulate the problem by utilizing stochastic embedding of the uncertainty. The results allow one to evaluate the best average performance in the presence of uncertainty. They also allow one to judge whether uncertainty or other properties, e.g., nonminimum phase behavior, are dominant limiting factors.