Sparse matrix applications in computer-aided control systems design

Sparse matrix applications in computer-aided control systems design (CACSD) are described. A sparse matrix data structure is described and used in subsequent algorithms for the matrix exponential, linear simulation, and frequency response matrix calculations. The sparse matrix techniques require no special computer hardware such as aprallel or vector processors. The algorithms are applied to several typical aircraft flight control system state models. Comparison of the CPU timing results with CPU times for implementations of the same algorithms that do not take advantage of the sparsity of the state models show that significant CPU savings can be realized. FORTRAN code segments illustrating the sparse matrix operations are given