A graph realization approach to network identification

In this paper, we examine the problem of identifying the interaction geometry among a known number of agents, adopting a consensus-type algorithm for their coordination. The proposed identification process is facilitated by introducing “ports” for steering a subset of network vertices via an appropriately defined interface and observing the network´s response at another set of vertices. Using the fact that system identification provides a realization of the original network, we utilize transformations to identify a graph topology that is compatible with the set of input-output data. An example demonstrates the application of the proposed method.