Network Systems and String Stability

TL;DR

This paper formalizes the concept of string stability in network systems, particularly vehicle platoons, highlighting different definitions and their implications through simulations, and extends these concepts to general network systems.

Contribution

It introduces a formal framework for string stability, compares various definitions, and generalizes the concept to broader network systems.

Findings

Different definitions of string stability have significant implications.

Simulation examples illustrate the importance of precise definitions.

Generalized framework applies to various network systems.

Abstract

Network systems and their control are highly important and appear in a variety of applications, including vehicle platooning and formation con- trol. Especially vehicle platoons are highly investigated and an interesting problem that arises in this area is string stability, which broadly spoken means that a input signal amplifies unbounded as it travels through the vehicle string. However, various definitions are commonly used. In this paper, we aim to formalise the notion of string stability and illustrate the importance of those distinctions on simulation examples. A second goal is to generalise the found definitions for general network systems.