Canonical forms for linear multivariable systems

A class of well-known canonical forms for single-input or single-output controllable and observable systems are extended to multivariable systems. It is shown that, unlike the single-variable case, the canonical forms are generally not unique, but that the structure of the canonical form can be controlled to some extent by the designer. A major result of the paper is that a multi-input system can be transformed to a set of coupled single-input subsystems.