arXiv subjects

Fabian R. Wirth

Publications and source records attributed to Fabian R. Wirth.

15 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Dynamic access pricing control for fair and stable resource sharing

We consider the co-existence of users with different price sensitivities under dynamic (or surge) pricing that regulates how they access a shared resource. To balance supply and demand in such settings, some dynamic pricing systems adopt a monotonically increasing price scheme which is well known to be socially regressive, driving out price-sensitive users in favor of price-insensitive ones. Here, we propose a new dynamic pricing scheme based on a non-monotonic price function that allows all user classes to coexist more fairly when price-insensitive users are present, but automatically reverts to conventional dynamic pricing when they leave the system, even though the exact price-sensitivity composition is unobservable. The resulting system consists of nonlinear ODEs, which we further investigate to characterize its equilibria and their domains of attraction, first for a single price-sensitive class competing with a price-insensitive one and then for the general $n$-class case. Numerical simulations demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed design.

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arXiv2021

Predictability and Fairness in Load Aggregation and Operations of Virtual Power Plants

In power systems, one wishes to regulate the aggregate demand of an ensemble of distributed energy resources (DERs), such as controllable loads and battery energy storage systems. We suggest a notion of predictability and fairness, which suggests that the long-term averages of prices or incentives offered should be independent of the initial states of the operators of the DER, the aggregator, and the power grid. We show that this notion cannot be guaranteed with many traditional controllers used by the load aggregator, including the usual proportional-integral (PI) controller. We show that even considering the non-linearity of the alternating-current model, this notion of predictability and fairness can be guaranteed for incrementally input-to-state stable (iISS) controllers, under mild assumptions.

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arXiv2020

A relaxed small-gain theorem for infinite networks

Motivated by the scalability problem in large networks, we study stability of a network of infinitely many finite-dimensional subsystems. We develop a so-called relaxed small-gain theorem for input-to-state stability (ISS) with respect to a closed set and show that every exponentially input-to-state stable system necessarily satisfies the proposed small-gain condition. Following our bottom-up approach, we study the well-posedness of the interconnection based on the behavior of the individual subsystems. Finally, we over-approximate large-but-finite networks by infinite networks and show that all the stability properties and the performance indices obtained for the infinite system can be transferred to the original finite one if each subsystem of the infinite network is individually ISS. Interestingly, the size of the truncated network does not need to be known. The effectiveness of our small-gain theorem is verified by application to an urban traffic network.

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arXiv2019

Control of discrete-time nonlinear systems via finite-step control Lyapunov functions

In this work, we establish different control design approaches for discrete-time systems, which build upon the notion of finite-step control Lyapunov functions (fs-CLFs). The design approaches are formulated as optimization problems and solved in a model predictive control (MPC) fashion. In particular, we establish contractive multi-step MPC with and without reoptimization and compare it to classic MPC. The idea behind these approaches is to use the fs-CLF as running cost. These new design approaches are particularly relevant in situations where information exchange between plant and controller cannot be ensured at all time instants. An example shows the different behavior of the proposed controller design approaches.

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arXiv2019

On the Ergodic Control of Ensembles

Across smart-grid and smart-city application domains, there are many problems where an ensemble of agents is to be controlled such that both the aggregate behaviour and individual-level perception of the system's performance are acceptable. In many applications, traditional PI control is used to regulate aggregate ensemble performance. Our principal contribution in this note is to demonstrate that PI control may not be always suitable for this purpose, and in some situations may lead to a loss of ergodicity for closed-loop systems. Building on this observation, a theoretical framework is proposed to both analyse and design control systems for the regulation of large scale ensembles of agents with a probabilistic intent. Examples are given to illustrate our results.

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arXiv2017

Non-conservative discrete-time ISS small-gain conditions for closed sets

This paper presents a unification and a generalization of the small-gain theory subsuming a wide range of existing small-gain theorems. In particular, we introduce small-gain conditions that are necessary and sufficient to ensure input-to-state stability (ISS) with respect to closed sets. Toward this end, we first develop a Lyapunov characterization of $ω$ISS via finite-step $ω$ISS Lyapunov functions. Then, we provide the small-gain conditions to guarantee $ω$ISS of a network of systems. Finally, applications of our results to partial input-to-state stability, ISS of time-varying systems, synchronization problems, incremental stability, and distributed observers are given.

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arXiv2017

On Classical Control and Smart Cities

We discuss the applicability of classical control theory to problems in smart grids and smart cities. We use tools from iterated function systems to identify controllers with desirable properties. In particular, controllers are identified that can be used to design not only stable closed-loop systems, but also to regulate large-scale populations of agents in a predictable manner. We also illustrate by means of an example and associated theory that many classical controllers are not be suitable for deployment in these applications.

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arXiv2017

Non-coercive Lyapunov functions for infinite-dimensional systems

We show that the existence of a non-coercive Lyapunov function is sufficient for uniform global asymptotic stability (UGAS) of infinite-dimensional systems with external disturbances provided the speed of decay is measured in terms of the norm of the state and an additional mild assumption is satisfied. For evolution equations in Banach spaces with Lipschitz continuous nonlinearities these additional assumptions become especially simple. The results encompass some recent results on linear switched systems on Banach spaces. Finally, we derive new non-coercive converse Lyapunov theorems and give some examples showing the necessity of our assumptions.

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arXiv2015

Relaxed ISS Small-Gain Theorems for Discrete-Time Systems

In this paper ISS small-gain theorems for discrete-time systems are stated, which do not require input-to-state stability (ISS) of each subsystem. This approach weakens conservatism in ISS small-gain theory, and for the class of exponentially ISS systems we are able to prove that the proposed relaxed small-gain theorems are non-conservative in a sense to be made precise. The proofs of the small-gain theorems rely on the construction of a dissipative finite-step ISS Lyapunov function which is introduced in this work. Furthermore, dissipative finite-step ISS Lyapunov functions, as relaxations of ISS Lyapunov functions, are shown to be sufficient and necessary to conclude ISS of the overall system.

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arXiv2014

Stability Criteria for SIS Epidemiological Models under Switching Policies

We study the spread of disease in an SIS model. The model considered is a time-varying, switched model, in which the parameters of the SIS model are subject to abrupt change. We show that the joint spectral radius can be used as a threshold parameter for this model in the spirit of the basic reproduction number for time-invariant models. We also present conditions for persistence and the existence of periodic orbits for the switched model and results for a stochastic switched model.

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arXiv2012

Numerical Construction of LISS Lyapunov Functions under a Small Gain Condition

In the stability analysis of large-scale interconnected systems it is frequently desirable to be able to determine a decay point of the gain operator, i.e., a point whose image under the monotone operator is strictly smaller than the point itself. The set of such decay points plays a crucial role in checking, in a semi-global fashion, the local input-to-state stability of an interconnected system and in the numerical construction of a LISS Lyapunov function. We provide a homotopy algorithm that computes a decay point of a monotone op- erator. For this purpose we use a fixed point algorithm and provide a function whose fixed points correspond to decay points of the monotone operator. The advantage to an earlier algorithm is demonstrated. Furthermore an example is given which shows how to analyze a given perturbed interconnected system.

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arXiv2010

Stability verification for monotone systems using homotopy algorithms

A monotone self-mapping of the nonnegative orthant induces a monotone discrete-time dynamical system which evolves on the same orthant. If with respect to this system the origin is attractive then there must exists points whose image under the monotone map is strictly smaller than the original point, in the component-wise partial ordering. Here it is shown how such points can be found numerically, leading to a recipe to compute order intervals that are contained in the region of attraction and where the monotone map acts essentially as a contraction. An important application is the numerical verification of so-called generalized small-gain conditions that appear in the stability theory of large-scale systems.

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arXiv2009

Small gain theorems for large scale systems and construction of ISS Lyapunov functions

We consider interconnections of n nonlinear subsystems in the input-to-state stability (ISS) framework. For each subsystem an ISS Lyapunov function is given that treats the other subsystems as independent inputs. A gain matrix is used to encode the mutual dependencies of the systems in the network. Under a small gain assumption on the monotone operator induced by the gain matrix, a locally Lipschitz continuous ISS Lyapunov function is obtained constructively for the entire network by appropriately scaling the individual Lyapunov functions for the subsystems. The results are obtained in a general formulation of ISS, the cases of summation, maximization and separation with respect to external gains are obtained as corollaries.

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arXiv2005

An ISS Small-Gain Theorem for General Networks

We provide a generalized version of the nonlinear small-gain theorem for the case of more than two coupled input-to-state stable (ISS) systems. For this result the interconnection gains are described in a nonlinear gain matrix and the small-gain condition requires bounds on the image of this gain matrix. The condition may be interpreted as a nonlinear generalization of the requirement that the spectral radius of the gain matrix is less than one. We give some interpretations of the condition in special cases covering two subsystems, linear gains, linear systems and an associated artificial dynamical system.

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arXiv1999

Asymptotic stability equals exponential stability, and ISS equals finite energy gain---if you twist your eyes

In this paper we show that uniformly global asymptotic stability for a family of ordinary differential equations is equivalent to uniformly global exponential stability under a suitable nonlinear change of variables. The same is shown for input-to-state stability and input-to-state exponential stability, and for input-to-state exponential stability and a nonlinear $H_\infty$ estimate.

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