Intelligent Scheduling Controller Design for Networked Control Systems Based on Estimation of Distribution Algorithm*

Abstract: The use of communication networks in control loops has gained increasing attention in recent years due to its advantages and flexible applications. The network quality-of-service (QoS) in those so-called networked control systems always fluctuates due to changes of the traffic load and available network resources. This paper presents an intelligent scheduling controller design approach for a class of NCSs to handle network QoS variations. The sampling period and control parameters in the controller are simultane-ously scheduled to compensate for the network QoS variations. The estimation of distribution algorithm is used to optimize the sampling period and control parameters for better performance. Compared with exist-ing networked control methods, the controller has better ability to compensate for the network QoS varia-tions and to balance network loads. Simulation results show that the plant setting time with the intelligent scheduling controller is reduced by about 64.0 % for the medium network load and 49.1 % for high network load and demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approaches. Key words: networked control systems (NCSs); estimation of distribution algorithm (EDA); network-induced delay; packet dropout; network quality-of-service (QoS) variatio