Controller design for switched linear systems with setups

In this paper we consider the control of a complex network of servers through which many types of jobs flow, where we assume that servers require a setup time when changing between types. Such networks can be used to model complex communication, traffic or manufacturing systems. Instead of starting with a given policy for controlling the network and then study the resulting dynamics, we start from a desired steady-state behavior and derive a policy which achieves this behavior. By means of an example we illustrate the way to derive a feedback controller from given desired steady-state behavior. Insights from this example can be used to deal with general networks, as illustrated by a more complex network example. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.