Tracking control with time delay compensation for linear time invariant networked control systems

The paper deals with the tracking control problem of linear time invariant (LTI) systems when the plant and the controller belong to the same network. Time delays can degrade significantly the performance of a networked control system, eventually leading to instability. The problem characterized by constant and known network delays is analytically examined, showing how to construct a plant state predictor in order to compensate the time delays between the plant and the controller, so to allow the tracking of a reference signal. Computer simulations illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed technique, also when time delays slightly vary around a mean value.