Minimum-delay link determination in networked control systems using Asexual Reproduction Optimization

Networked control systems (NCS) have gained an increasing attention in recent years due to their flexibility and cost reduction. The two main problems affecting stability and performance of closed-loop NCS are packet delay and drop. The problem of delay is severe in large scale NCS where the sensor-controller-actuator are connected via a network with large number of switches and routers. In this paper, we propose a real time optimization algorithm, called asexual reproduction optimization (ARO) which is inspired by asexual reproduction, to find the least delay link in the control loop. Simulation results reveal that the proposed algorithm remarkably outperforms the recently cited genetic algorithm (GA) in finding the minimum delay link.