Discrete Signal Processing with Flat System Models

The concept of differential flatness of continuous-time systems has its counterpart in discrete-time systems, which are most often applied in modern signal processing problems. This concept of flatness gives a way for open-loop as well as closed-loop control design for dynamic systems when the goal is to drive the system from one steady-state to another. The successive derivatives of the so-called flat output and the control of a continuous-time system are substituted by their backward shifts in discrete approach. Some flatness based properties are preliminarily studied via a linear example. Relations to dead-beat control are also pointed out.