Supporting Temporal Coordination in Wirelessly Networked Control Systems: Fundamental Theory, Algorithms, Architecture, and Experimentation

智力优势：当网络计算机与物理世界交互时，传感器测量的一致时间戳和致动器的时间协调问题成为高性能的核心技术问题。 在控制系统中，状态估计器需要精确的时间戳信息，并且分布式控制动作必须在时间上协调。这对于传感器网络也很重要，例如，基于飞行时间的定位，以及时隙同步和分组调度导致更大吞吐量的通信网络。 然而，时钟同步存在基本限制。本计画探讨在时钟同步中，哪些是基本上可行的，哪些是不可行的。更广泛的影响：控制系统广泛应用于工业领域，包括过程控制和制造业，以及汽车和飞机等平台。 我们正处于第三代网络控制系统的风口浪尖，该系统结合了数字控制出现以来四十年来取得的所有技术进步--强大的计算硬件、复杂的软件和网络系统。它将导致易于部署和重新配置的大规模控制系统，并且预计对于未来的大规模项目（如智能交通系统或能源电网）以及关键行业（如汽车行业）的更高效率具有重要意义，其中汽车已经具有约50台嵌入式计算机。该项目将培训研究生，在每年的工程开放日接待数百名当地高中学生，并在公开文献中传播成果。

Intellectual Merit: When networked computers interact with the physical world, the problem of consistent time-stamping of sensor measurements, and temporal coordination of actuators, emerges as a core technical problem for high performance. In control systems, state-estimators need accurately time-stamped information, and distributed control actions must be coordinated temporally. It is also important for sensor networks, e.g., localization based on time of flight, and communication networks, where slotted synchronization and packet scheduling lead to greater throughputs. However, there are fundamental limitations to clock synchronization. This project investigates what is fundamentally feasible or infeasible in clock synchronization. It also investigates algorithms that scale well with system size.Broader Impact: Control systems are widespread in industries, including process control and manufacturing, and platforms such as cars and aircraft. We are on the cusp of a third generation of networked control systems that combines all the technological advances made in the forty years since the advent of digital control -- powerful computational hardware, complex software, and networked systems. It will lead to large scale control systems that are easily deployable and reconfigurable, and expected to be of great importance for future large scale projects such as smart transportation systems or energy grids, as well as for greater efficiencies in critical industries, such as the automobile industry, where cars already feature about 50 embedded computers. This project will train graduate students, host hundreds of students from local high schools at the annual Engineering Open House, and disseminate results in the open literature.