Optimality of decentralized control for large-scale systems

A decentralized control scheme is given for the stabilization of large-scale linear systems composed of a number of controllable subsystems. A class of interconnection structures among subsystems is defined for which the overall system can always be stabilized by local state feedback which is optimal for a quadratic performance index. The resulting closed-loop system has robust stability properties against a wide range of variations in open-loop dynamics. Optimality of the decentralized control law is preserved for a modified performance index under perturbations in interconnections such that the strength of coupling does not increase. The class of decentrally stabilizable large-scale systems presented in this paper is the largest such class hitherto described by the structure of interconnections.