Separation principle for networked control systems with multiple-packet transmission

The authors investigate a class of observer-based discrete-time networked control systems (NCSs) with multiple-packet transmission where random packet dropouts occur independently in both the sensor-to-controller (S/C) and controller-to-actuator (C/A) channels. The authors first propose and prove the separation principle for the NCSs where packet dropouts in the C/A and S/C channels are governed by two independent Markov chains, respectively. Secondly, the authors derive a sufficient condition, in terms of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs), for stabilisation control of the Markov chain-driven NCSs. The authors also derive the necessary and sufficient condition for stabilisation control of the memoryless process-driven NCSs as a special case. A numerical example is provided to illustrate the effectiveness of our method.