Towards Energy-Efficient Communication Management in the Distributed Control of Networked Cyber-Physical Systems

TL;DR

This paper introduces an energy-efficient distributed communication management strategy for networked cyber-physical systems, optimizing communication ranges to ensure consensus while reducing energy consumption.

Contribution

It proposes a novel topology control method based on variable communication ranges, guaranteeing network connectivity and energy efficiency in consensus problems.

Findings

Guarantees network connectivity with reduced energy use.

Ensures consensus with bounded communication energy.

Validated effectiveness through simulations.

Abstract

In this paper, we study the distributed control of networked cyber-physical systems when a much more energy-efficient distributed communication management strategy is proposed to solve the well-studied consensus problem. In contrast to the existing potential-based network topology control method, the proposed topology control method is based on the variation of communication ranges such that each agent can control its ad hoc communication range. The proposed network topology control technique can not only guarantee network connectivity but also reduce the communication energy. We apply the new network topology control technique, based on variable communication ranges, in a well-studied consensus problem, where the communication range for each agent is designed locally along with a new bounded control algorithm. Theoretical analysis is then provided to show that the proposed network topology control technique can guarantee consensus with bounded communication energy consumption. Finally, simulation examples are provided to show the effectiveness of the proposed energy-efficient distributed topology control technique.