Chapter 3

Stability Analysis in digital control

systems
 Contents
Introduction
Stability analysis
Bilinear transformation
RH criteria
Frequency response techniques
Closed loop frequency response
 Introduction
Open loop discrete time systems
Closed loop discrete time systems
System time response
 Introduction
Open loop discrete time systems
Consider a sampled data systems shown below
 Introduction
Open loop discrete time systems
Using the transform method, C(z)=E(z)G(z)
Example: In the system shown above, if the plant
Gp(s)=1/s(s+1), find C(z) and c(kT)
Solution:
1 eTs 1 eT z
G( z) T
E( z)
s(s 1) z e z 1
1 e T z
C( z)
z e T z 1

C(kT) 1 ekT
 Introduction
Open loop discrete time systems
For the system above, the steady state value is 1.
This is obtained by using the final value theorem.
The DC gain is the G(z) as z1
When there are cascaded systems, the output of
the cascaded system may vary depending on the
location of the samplers
Example: consider the following three sampled
data systems, find C(z) for the three cases
 Introduction
Open loop discrete time systems

C(z) E(z)G1(z)G2 (z)

C(z) E(z)G1G2 (z)

C(z) G1E(z)G2 (z)

 Introduction
Open loop discrete time systems
When the system has digital filters, the open loop
output is obtained by using the Z-transform of the
difference equation
Example: for the system shown below, find the
output

C(z) E(z)D(z)G(z)
 Introduction
Open loop discrete time systems
Exercise: Determine the expression for the output
of the following systems
 Introduction
Closed loop discrete time systems
Closed loop discrete systems contain samplers
either in the forward or feedback path or in both
paths
The output can be derived by using the methods
used for open loop.
Consider the closed loop system below

G( z) R( z)
C( z)
1 GH( z)
 Introduction
Closed loop discrete time systems
When the closed loop system contains digital
filters, the system output is obtained by using the
cascade of the digital filter and analog parts
For example: for the system below, the output is
given as

G( z) D( z) R( z)
C( z)
1 D( z)GH( z)
 Introduction
Closed loop system
When the system contains multiple samplers, the
closed loop system output is obtained by
Drawing the signal flow graph of the original system
Writing equations to each sampler input
Combining the equations

G1 ( z)G2 ( z)R( z)
C( z)
1 G1 ( z)G2 ( z) G2 H ( z)
 Introduction
System time response for discrete time
systems
Is obtained using the inverse transform method
ones the output z transform is obtained
Example: for the temperature control system
shown below, determine the output when the
input is unit step

G( z)
C( z ) R( z)
1 G( z)
 Introduction
System time response
Using the Z transform of unit step input and
0.3625
G( z)
z 0.8187
The closed loop output and its inverse become
0.3625z
C( z)
( z 1)(z 0.4562)
 Introduction
System time response
For a general closed loop system with single
sampler and single loop, the output is given as
m

G( z)
K (z z ) i

C( z ) R( z) R( z)
1 G( z) n

(z p ) i

Then using partial fraction expansion

k1z z
C( z) kn CR ( z )
z p1 z pn

Which yields n
C(kt) i 1
ki ( pi )k 1[CR ( z)]
 Introduction
System time response
Mapping of the s-plane in the z-plane, z e sT

the left half of the s-plane maps to a unit circle in the z-

plane
The right half maps to a point out of the unit circle in z
plane
 Introduction
System time response
Generally, for a system given by transfer function
n2
G(s) 2
s 2n s n2
S-plane poles are given by
s n jn 1 2
Z plane poles are
z esT enT nT 1 2
s1, 2
 Introduction
System time response
If the z-plane complex pole is given as z r
The damping ration, natural frequency and time
constant can be obtained as
ln r

ln 2 r 2
1
n ln 2 r 2
T
1 T

n ln r
 Stability Analysis
Definition
Consider a nonlinear discrete system given by
x(kT T ) f [x(kT), kT, u(kT)) x(koT ) xo
Assume that u(kT)=0 for k>ko and x(kT) is the
solution when the initial condition is x(koT) and ~x(kT)
is the solution when the initial condition is ~x (k0T )
The solution x(kT) is stable if for some >0,
there exists (,ko)>0 such that
xk0T ~
x k0T xkT ~
x kT for all k k0
 Stability Analysis
Asymptotic stability
The system above is said to be asymptotically
stable iff it is stable and
xkT ~
x kT 0 as k when x0 kT ~
x0 kT
is sufficiently small
Stability from characteristic equation
Consider a system whose output after partial
fraction expansion is given by
k1z z
C( z) kn CR ( z )
z p1 z pn
The system will be stable if all poles are inside the
unit circle
 Stability
Characteristic equation
For a system whose output is given by
G( z)
C( z) R( z)
1 GH( z)
The characteristic equation is
1 GH(z) 0
For stability
Roots of the characteristic equation must lie with in the
unit circle
If any root is on the unit circle, system is marginally
stable
If any root is out side the unit circle, system is unstable
 Stability
Characteristic equation
When the system is described in state space, as
x(k 1) Ax(k ) Br(k )
y(k ) Cx(k ) Dr(k )
The system transfer function is given as
Y ( z)
C[ zI A]1 B D
R( z)

Then the characteristic equation is given by

zI A 0
 Bilinear Transformation
Is a transformation which transforms the z-
plane to a new plane, w-plane
The transformation is given by
1 (T / 2) 2 z 1
z w
1 (T / 2) T z 1
By this transformation, the unit circle in z-
plane transforms to the imaginary axis of w-
plane
 Bilinear transformation
The stable region of the w-plane is the left half
plane.
This enables the RH, Bode plot and other
frequency domain analysis to be performed
on discrete systems
On the unit circle in z-plane, z e jwT

2 T
w j tan
T 2
Hence the frequency in s-plane and the
frequency in w plane are related by
2 T
ww tan
T 2
 RH criteria
Is a systematic way of determining the
stability of a continuous system without
actually solving the characteristic equation
In digital systems, simple RH can not be
applied but following method is used
Convert the z domain transfer function to w plane
by using Bilinear transformation
Determine the characteristics equation
apply RH as continuous system
 Jurys stability test
Is a similar method to the RH which can be
directly applied to characteristic equation in z
domain
Consider a characteristic equation given by
C(z) an z n an1z n1 a1z a0 an 0
z0 z1 z2 z nk z n1 zn
a0 a1 a2 ank an1 an
an an1 an2 ak a1 a0
b0 b1 b2 bnk bn1
bn1 bn2 bn3 bk 1 b0
c0 c1 c2 cnk
cn2 cn3 cn4 cn2
 Jurys stability test
The entries in the third row and above are
calculated by
a0 ank b0 bn1k c0 cn2k
bk ck dk
an ak bn1 bk cn2 ck

The necessary and sufficient condition for

stability is then
C(1) 0 b0 bn1
(1) n C(1) 0 c0 cn2
(1) (2)
a0 an d 0 d n3

m0 m2
 Jurys stability test
Example: For the system shown below,
determine the stability of the system when
T=0.1s

The characteristic equation of system is given

by 1 KG(z) 0 where G(z) is again given by
z 1 1
G( z) 2
z s s 1

1 z (T 1 eT ) z (1 eT TeT )
2
s s 1 ( z 1) 2
( z e T
)
 Jurys stability test
Substituting T=0.1 and solving for G(z)
0.00484 z 0.00468
G( z)
( z 1)(z 0.905)
Hence the characteristic equation is
1 KG(z) z 2 1.905z 0.905 0.00484Kz 0.00468K

Jurys table is
z0 z1 z2
0.00468K+0.905 0.00484z-1.905z 1

Applying group 1 constraints, for stability K>0

and K<20.3
 Jurys stability test
Steps
From the given system description obtain the
characteristic equation
Apply group 1 constraints, it any one fail, then
system is unstable, stop
If group 1 constraints are valid, start filling Jurys
table and check the condition at each row. If
condition fails, system is unstable stop
If all constraints are fulfilled, then system is stable
Example: for a system having ff characteristic
equation, check stability using Jurys test
C(z) z3 1.8z 2 1.05z 0.2
 Frequency response techniques
Root locus method- consider a closed loop
system shown below.

The characteristic equation of the system is

1+KGH(z)=0
The root locus of this system will be drawn
using the standard steps of continuous system
 Frequency response techniques
Root locus method
Example: Draw the root locus of the following
system if D(z)=K

The characteristic equation of the system is

1 KG(z) 0

Where z 1 1
G( z) 2
z s s 1
 Frequency response techniques
Example: using Z-transform table and T=1, the
final characteristic equation becomes
K (0.3679 z 0.2642)
1 KG( z)
( z 1)(z 0.3679)
The root locus becomes
Root Locus
1.5

0.5
Imaginary Axis

-0.5

-1

-1.5
-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2
Real Axis
 Frequency response techniques
Bode plot- is another frequency response
technique
Graphical method which draws the magnitude and
phase of the closed loop response as a function of
frequency
For discrete time systems two methods can be
followed
Form the characteristic equation of the system in z
Change to w plane and plot bode plot or
Draw the bode plot in z domain and convert it to s
domain using the conversion formula