PDV-based packet length allocation for networked control systems

Networked control systems typically involve multiple subsystems which share the communication network. In this system setting, besides the optimization of the quality of control of the considered networked control system, the efficient utilization of the communication resources contributes to part of the overall control objective. By realizing the fact that the packet delay variation can be roughly piecewise constant in a relatively large system, a packet length allocation scheme is proposed for this system setting. With the use of this scheme, the performance of the networked control system can be maintained at an acceptable level at the dramatically reduced cost of the communication resources. As a result an optimized balance between the quality of control of the considered networked control system and the quality of service of the communication network can thus be achieved. Simulations illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme.