Robustly stable nonlinear discrete control systems (Q1899649)

The paper develops a circle criterion for robust stability of a class of nonlinear systems. Discrete, scalar nonlinear systems, in which the nonlinear part is separated from the linear part, are discussed. The uncertainty in the system is nonparametric; in the nonlinear case a nonlinearity is lying in a sector and in the linear case it can be additive, multiplicative, rational-fractional, or a combination of the three. First, the problem with no perturbations in the linear part is treated, and the nonlinearities are lying within a sector. This corresponds to the classical problem of absolute stability of nonlinear discrete systems. A circle criterion for this is derived. When perturbations in the linear part are also included, a general frequency domain criterion for robust stability is established. As a special case, follows a result of robust stability for linear discrete systems. Finally, the limiting admissible uncertainty for robust stability of such systems is investigated. The paper concludes with an illustrating example.