A new approach to hierarchical decomposition of large scale systems

A technique for the hierarchical decomposition of large-scale systems is proposed. It results in a noniterative scheme for near-optimal control of both linear and nonlinear large-scale systems. In this approach, the role of the coordinator module is that of a supervisory controller whose task is to establish the strategy for distributing the overall system demands among each of the subsystems according to their performance and plant status. Each subsystem´s controller relays in optimal control algorithms based on uncertain dynamics methods. The solution to each subsystem´s optimal control problem is based on Pontryagin´s maximum principle and the time-reversal paradigm for free-terminal-time problems. This approach transforms the two-point boundary value problem into an initial value problem which permits integration of both the state and adjoint equations forward in time. For those control problems for which the two-point boundary value formulation can be transformed into an initial value case, this approach will permit online implementation of nonlinear hierarchical controllers for large-scale systems