Asynchronous Consensus in Continuous-Time Multi-Agent Systems With Switching Topology and Time-Varying Delays

TLDR

Asynchrony means each agent updates at times independent of others. The study investigates asynchronous consensus in continuous‑time multi‑agent systems with discontinuous transmission, presenting a distributed algorithm that overcomes unreliable communication, switching topology, and time‑varying delays. The algorithm uses neighbor state information at discrete times, assumes a time‑dependent topology with bounded delays, and is analyzed via nonnegative matrix theory and graph theory. Consensus is achieved whenever the union of the communication topology over any interval of a given length contains a spanning tree, and simulations confirm the method’s effectiveness.

Abstract

The paper studies asynchronous consensus problems of continuous-time multi-agent systems with discontinuous information transmission. The proposed consensus control strategy is implemented based on the state information of each agent's neighbors at some discrete times. The asynchrony means that each agent's update times, at which the agent adjusts its dynamics, are independent of others'. Furthermore, it is assumed that the communication topology among agents is time-dependent and the information transmission is with bounded time-varying delays. If the union of the communication topology across any time interval with some given length contains a spanning tree, the consensus problem is shown to be solvable. The analysis tool developed in this paper is based on nonnegative matrix theory and graph theory. The main contribution of this paper is to provide a valid distributed consensus algorithm that overcomes the difficulties caused by unreliable communication channels, such as intermittent information transmission, switching communication topology, and time-varying communication delays, and therefore has its obvious practical applications. Simulation examples are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the theoretical results.