Networked Predictive Control for Complex Systems

Dear Colleagues,

The rapid evolution and diffusion of information and communication technologies are leading to the implementation of complex networked systems that rely on communication, computation, and control techniques for their proper functioning.

In this context, researchers are interested in developing novel control methods for  network-centric complex systems. The concept of networked control systems has thus been introduced, which refers to a distributed real-time feedback control system that integrates sensors, controllers, actuators and communication networks. In this perspective, the control of networked systems implies that the network used for the communication of the control actions is general purpose and used for various simultaneous applications; moreover, the functionalities of the control level must be diversified from the pure automatic control. Consequently, it becomes challenging to ensure real-time communications in the whole system and to guarantee high performance and stability.

Predictive control methods, thanks to the possibility of predicting the systems behavior, explicitly restrict its functioning, and optimize its performance, and are considered promising in the context of networked control systems.

The objective of this Special Issue is to collect recent research and development efforts contributing to advances in networked predictive control systems, also including state-of-the-art reviews and perspectives on future advances and applications.

Prof. Dr. Raffaele Carli
Prof. Dr. Graziana Cavone
Prof. Dr. Nicola Epicoco
Dr. Domenico Bianchi
Guest Editors

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