Hopf bifurcation and oscillations in a communication network with heterogeneous delays

In this paper, we investigate stability, bifurcation and oscillations arising in a single-link communication network model with a large number of heterogeneous users adopting a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)-like rate control scheme with an Active Queue Management (AQM) router. In the system considered, different user delays are known and fixed but taken from a given distribution. It is shown that for any given distribution of delays, there exists a critical amount of feedback (due to AQM) at which the equilibrium loses stability and a limit cycling solution develops via a Hopf bifurcation. The nature (criticality) of the bifurcation is investigated with the aid of Lyapunov-Schmidt perturbation method. The results of the analysis are numerically verified and provide valuable insights into dynamics of the AQM control system.     

Determining the propagation path of a disturbance in multi-rate process and electromechanical systems

This paper proposes a multi-rate method to identify the propagation path of a persistent disturbance in an enlarged system envelope which includes the process plant and its electromechanical equipment. The need to integrate process and equipment diagnosis has been highlighted by industrial commentators. However, process and electromechanical measurements often have different sampling rates. The multi-rate method proposed extends a state-of-the-art propagation path method so that it combines fast-sampled electromechanical measurements and slow-sampled process measurements. The method is based on non-linear mutual prediction, which yields the directionality in the relationship between two time series. The method was demonstrated and validated, giving the expected outcome in an experimental case study, in which the root cause and propagation path of the disturbance were known.