Robust coding for a class of sources: Applications in control and reliable communication over limited capacity channels

This paper is concerned with the control of a class of dynamical systems over finite capacity communication channels. Necessary conditions for reliable data reconstruction and stability of a class of dynamical systems are derived. The methodology is information theoretic. It introduces the notion of entropy for a class of sources, which is defined as a maximization of the Shannon entropy over a class of sources. It also introduces the Shannon information transmission theorem for a class of sources, which states that channel capacity should be greater or equal to the mini-max rate distortion (maximization is over the class of sources) for reliable communication. When the class of sources is described by a relative entropy constraint between a class of source densities, and a given nominal source density, the explicit solution to the maximum entropy, is given, and its connection to Rényi entropy is illustrated. Furthermore, this solution is applied to a class of controlled dynamical systems to address necessary conditions for reliable data reconstruction and stability of such systems. © 2008 Published by Elsevier B.V.