Dissipativity and passivity-related properties in nonlinear discrete-time systems

Abstract

This dissertation is devoted to dissipativity-related concepts in the nonlinear discrete-time setting, and presents several new contributions which are not covered by the existing nonlinear discrete-time dissipativity-based control theory and the study of the properties of nonlinear discrete-time dissipative systems. The study of dissipativity given in this dissertation is concentrated in the state-space or internal description representation of systems. The results achieved are classified into three main goals or problems to solve, such as: 1. The characterization of dissipative multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) nonlinear discrete-time systems of general form, what is regarded as Kalman-Yakubovich-Popov (KYP) conditions. The KYP conditions existing in the literature are extended to a class of nonlinear MIMO dissipative discrete-time systems which are non-affine in the control input. The class of dissipativity characterized is regarded as QSS-dissipativity. Necessary and sufficient conditions for the characterization of QSS-lossless discrete-time systems which are non-affine in the control input are also given. 2. The feedback dissipativity problem in the nonlinear discrete-time setting. Two approaches are proposed to deal with this topic: 2.1. The feedback dissipativity problem through the fundamental dissipativity inequality. The feedback dissipativity problem is solved for single-input single-output (SISO) nonlinear discrete-time non-affine-in-the-control-input systems by means of four methodologies based on the fundamental dissipativity equality. Sufficient conditions under which feedback dissipativity is possible are proposed. 2.2. The feedback passivity problem through the properties of the relative degree and zero dynamics of the non-passive system. The problem of rendering a system passive via state feedback is solved for a class of MIMO nonlinear discrete-time systems which are affine in the control input using the properties of the relative degree and the zero dynamics of the non-passive system. It is an extension to the passivity case of the results reported in the literature for the losslessness feedback problem. 3. The dissipativity-based stabilization problem in nonlinear discrete-time systems. The dissipativity-based controller design methodology of the Energy Shaping and Damping Injection (ESDI) is extended to general nonlinear SISO discrete-time systems, in addition to, the analysis of some stability properties of a class of dissipative and feedback dissipative SISO nonlinear discrete-time systems. Furthermore, sufficient conditions under which a class of feedback dissipative systems is stabilizable are proposed. Other secondary goals in the dissipativity properties exploration in discrete-time systems are achieved, mainly: the study of the relative degree and zero dynamics of passive nonlinear discrete-time systems, some conclusions about passivity preservation under feedback and parallel interconnections, some notes on the non-preservation and preservation of dissipativity, and its special case of passivity, under sampling, in addition, dissipativity frequency-domain properties have been used and related to some of the most important frequency-based feedback stability criteria. Furthermore, the feedback dissipativity and dissipativity-based control results are applied to solve the regulation problem in a discrete-time model with physical interpretation: the DC-to-DC buck converter, whose open-loop response is improved by means of the use of some of the stabilization methods proposed. The fact of treating general discrete-time systems has allowed us to extend some dissipativity-related definitions to the case of continuous-time nonlinear non-affine-in-the-input systems. Two main problems are presented, namely: the study of the feedback dissipativity problem for nonlinear non-affine SISO systems based upon the fundamental dissipativity equality, and the use of the feedback dissipativity results in order to extend the ESDI controller design method to the case of non-affine SISO nonlinear systems.