Static reference input distribution with principle of optimality in decentralized servomechanism problem

In this paper, we consider a reference input distribution problem in the decentralized systems. The problem is formulated in a two-level system with the relegator defined as the coordinator and the subsystems. A specific static reference input, composed by a series of step functions, is considered in this paper. The optimal local controllers for the subsystems are designed as a function of the distribution results. Principle of Optimality is applied to calculate the individual optimal cost after each step change of the reference input. The relegator is designed to further optimize the total cost among the closed-loop subsystems. The decentralized reference inputs, or the distribution results, are generated after this optimization. According to the communication capabilities between the relegator and the subsystems, we categorize the distribution methods into two types, Passive Reference Input Distribution and Active Reference Input Distribution. Both methods are defined in the paper. The results in the en...