In this paper, we examine the influence of communication latency on performance of networked control systems. Even though distributed control architectures offer advantages in terms of communication, maintenance costs, and scalability, it is an open question how communication latency that varies with network topology influences closed-loop performance. For networks in which delays increase with the number of links, we establish the existence of a fundamental performance trade-off that arises from control architecture. In particular, we utilize consensus dynamics with single- and double-integrator agents to show that, if delays increase fast enough, a sparse controller with nearest neighbor interactions can outperform the centralized one with all-to-all communication topology.

翻译：在本文中,我们研究了通信延迟对网络控制系统性能的影响。尽管分布式控制结构在通信、维护成本和可扩缩性方面提供了优势,但与网络地形不同的通信延迟如何影响闭路性能却是一个未决问题。对于因连接数量增加而出现延迟的网络,我们确定存在由控制结构产生的基本绩效权衡。特别是,我们利用单一和双集成剂的共识动态来显示,如果延迟增加的速度足够快,拥有近邻互动的稀疏控制器能够超越集中式控制器,实现全方位通信结构。