IEEE CONTROL SYSTEMS LETTERS, VOL. 2, NO.

4, OCTOBER 2018 773

Stability Analysis of Nonlinear

Repetitive Control Schemes
Federico Califano , Michelangelo Bin , Alessandro Macchelli , and Claudio Melchiorri

Abstract—This letter deals with nonlinear repetitive

control (RC), a technique used to reject periodic dis-
turbances with a known and constant period. Since RC
systems are defined over a state space of infinite dimen-
sion, the main theoretical problem that makes nonlinear
case not trivial resides in the lack of adequate mathemati-
cal tools to study well-posedness of the closed-loop system Fig. 1. Basic structure of repetitive control [1]. The controller C(s) is
and regularity of the solutions. Here, the stability analy- called repetitive compensator and the controlled plant is denoted by .
sis relies on recent results about the boundary control of
infinite-dimensional port-Hamiltonian systems via nonlin-
ear regulators, and the major contribution is the definition theory [7] that have been used in the linear case are not valid
of a class of nonlinear plants for which a RC scheme is, at anymore in the nonlinear scenario, thus making the method-
first, well-posed, and then exponentially stable. Moreover, ology developed in [4] very suitable to study nonlinear RC
an explicit proof of perfect local asymptotic tracking and schemes. A similar approach but in the linear case has been
disturbance rejection for exponentially stable RC systems followed in [8], where a characterisation of the plants for
is provided.
which the corresponding RC scheme is exponentially stable
Index Terms—Distributed parameter systems, stability of is given. This has been achieved by exploiting the results
nonlinear systems, delay systems. presented in [9] on the synthesis of linear control systems for
BCS in port-Hamiltonian form that assure exponential stability
in closed-loop. The aim of this letter is to extend the approach
I. I NTRODUCTION presented in [8] to determine a class of nonlinear systems
for which continuous-time RC laws can be successfully
EPETITIVE control (RC) is a method for tracking
R and / or rejecting periodic exogenous signals with a
known period T, [1]. ts main properties depend on an element,
applied.
Differently from what has been usually done in nonlinear
RC, the proposed methodology does not rely on a finite-
denoted by C(s) in Fig. 1 and called repetitive compensator,
dimensional approximation of the repetitive compensator, nor
that is neutral dynamical system able to generate any periodic
on a linearisation of a nonlinear plant, or even on a nonlinear
signal of period T, store information about the tracking error,
perturbation of a linear one. More specifically, in [10] nonlin-
and adjust the control input to drive the error to zero. Due
ear RC schemes are studied by approximating the compensator
to the presence of the delay, C(s) is an infinite-dimensional
C(s) with a finite-dimensional system, and tracking is analysed
system. As a consequence, a fundamental problem in such
for a particular class of nonlinear systems. In [11], small-gain
schemes is well-posedness and regularity of solutions [2], [3].
arguments are used to guarantee stability of linear RC schemes
These issues, often omitted the RC literature, are quite hard to
in which a sector nonlinearity at the input of a linear plant is
prove in an infinite-dimensional framework, and even harder
present. In [12] and similarly to the approach discussed in
when the system is nonlinear.
this letter, the stability analysis is performed by relying on a
In this letter, recent results presented in [4] on the synthe-
state-space representation of the plant, with the nonlinear case
sis of nonlinear regulators for linear boundary control systems
briefly addressed as perturbation of the linear one. Note that
(BCS) in port-Hamiltonian form [5], [6] are adapted to address
well-posedness of the closed-loop system, i.e., existence and
consistently and rigorously both well-posedness and stability
properties of solutions, is never addressed. When e.g., in [12]
of the RC system. Basic analysis tools coming from semigroup
the stability analysis in presence of nonlinear perturbations
Manuscript received March 5, 2018; revised May 18, 2018; accepted is carried on by differentiating a Lyapunov functional along
June 8, 2018. Date of publication June 21, 2018; date of current version solutions, it is implicitly assumed that such solutions in closed-
July 6, 2018. Recommended by Senior Editor C. Prieur. (Corresponding
author: Federico Califano.) loop exist, which is not correct in an infinite-dimensional
The authors are with the Department of Electrical, Electronic, framework.
and Information Engineering, University of Bologna, 40136 Bologna, As a final contribution, since in the nonlinear case expo-
Italy (e-mail: federico.califano2@unibo.it; michelangelo.bin2@unibo.it;
alessandro.macchelli@unibo.it; claudio.melchiorri@unibo.it). nential stability in closed-loop does not imply perfect tracking
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/LCSYS.2018.2849617 for any periodic reference signal, an explicit proof of (local)
2475-1456 c 2018 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission.
See http://www.ieee.org/publications_standards/publications/rights/index.html for more information.
774 IEEE CONTROL SYSTEMS LETTERS, VOL. 2, NO. 4, OCTOBER 2018

asymptotic tracking is given, under the main requirement that

such system is exponentially stable. The result is the character-
isation of a class of nonlinear plants for which the closed-loop
RC scheme is exponentially stable and able to track / reject
periodic reference signals.

II. D ISTRIBUTED P ORT-H AMILTONIAN S YSTEMS

Fig. 2. Feedback interconnection between a BCS in scattering form
In this section, the mathematical background that is neces- and the nonlinear system .
sary to formulate the time delay as a BCS in port-Hamiltonian
form and, consequently, to study RC schemes within the port-
with C : H 1 (a, b; Rn ) → Rn . For (Lx)(0) ∈ H 1 (a, b; Rn ), and
Hamiltonian framework is briefly presented. In this respect, we
u(0) = Bx(0), the energy-balance inequality
refer to the class of port-Hamiltonian systems studied in [6],
     −1  
i.e., to systems described by 1d 1 u(t) T W −T W u(t)
x(t)2L ≤  (4)
∂x ∂  2 dt 2 y(t) W̃ W̃ y(t)
(t, z) = P1 L(z)x(t, z) + (P0 − G0 )L(z)x(t, z) (1)
∂t ∂z is satisfied.
with x ∈ Rn , and z ∈ [a, b]. Moreover, P1 = PT1 and The delay e−sT is a BCS that admits the port-Hamiltonian
invertible, P0 = −PT0 , G0 = GT0 , and L(·) is a bounded representation (1): this property is summarised in the next
and Lipschitz continuous matrix-valued function such that proposition. Note that by relying on similar arguments, in [8],
L(z) = LT (z) ≥ κI, with κ > 0, for all z ∈ [a, b]. For the it is shown that also the repetitive compensator is in fact a
sake of clearness, (Lx)(t, z) := L(z)x(t, z). The state space BCS in port-Hamiltonian form in the sense of Theorem 1.
is X = L2 (a, b; Rn ), and is endowed with the inner product Proposition 1: The pure delay of T units of time admits
x1 | x2 L = x1 | Lx2  and norm x1 2L = x1 | x1 L , where a distributed port-Hamiltonian representation (1) with P1 =
· | · denotes the natural L2 -inner product. The selection of −I, P0 = G0 = 0, L(z) = I, and z ∈ [0, T]. Moreover,
this space for the state variable is motivated by the fact that with Theorem 1 in mind, if the matrices that define the input
·2L is linked to the energy function of (1). As a consequence, and
√  the output (2) and√(3) are chosen respectively as W =
  
X is also called the space of energy variables, and Lx denotes 2
2
I I , and W̃ = 22 −I I , the pure time delay is a
the co-energy variables. BCS in the sense of the semigroup theory, and the following
Remark 1: Here | · | denotes the norm of a vector or of a energy-balance relation holds true:
matrix, to distinguish it from ·, used for the norm of an 1d 1 1
element of an infinite-dimensional space. x(t)22 = uT (t)u(t) − yT (t)y(t). (5)
2 dt 2 2
Remark 2: The PDE (1) can be also written as ẋ = J x,
∂ BCS with such an energy balance are in scattering form.
where J is the linear operator defined as J x := P1 ∂z (Lx) +
(P0 − G0 )Lx, with domain D(J ) = {Lx ∈ H (a, b; Rn )},
1 Proof: The delay is described by the following PDE:
where H 1 (a, b; Rn ) denotes the Sobolev space of order one. ∂x ∂x
(t, z) = − (t, z)
The PDE (1) is now completed by a set of boundary port ∂t ∂z
variables, given by a linear combination of the restriction of which is in the form (1). Then, it is easy to check that the
the co-energy variables Lx ∈ H 1 (a, b; Rn ) to the boundary, result is an immediate consequence of Theorem 1.
i.e., the vectors f∂ , e∂ ∈ Rn defined by
    
f∂ 1 P1 −P1 (Lx)(b) III. I NTERCONNECTION B ETWEEN A BCS IN
=√
e∂ 2 I I (Lx)(a) S CATTERING F ORM AND A N ONLINEAR S YSTEM
Theorem 1 [6, Th. 5.3]: Let W be a full rank n × 2n real A. Well-Posedness Analysis
matrix, and define the map B : H 1 (a, b; Rn ) → Rn , with To determine the class of nonlinear systems  for which
D(B) = D(J ), and the input u(t) as the RC scheme of Fig. 1 is well-posed and stable, a prelimi-
 
f∂ (t) nary step consists in studying the properties of the closed-loop
u(t) = Bx(t) := W (2)
e∂ (t) system obtained from the feedback interconnection of a BCS
in the sense of Theorem 1 and in scattering form (see Prop. 1),
The operator J¯ x := P1 ∂z ∂
(Lx) + (P0 − G0 )Lx with domain with a nonlinear system, denoted by . The general framework
¯
D(J ) = {Lx ∈ H (a, b; Rn ) | Bx = 0} generates a con-
1
is illustrated in Fig. 2. Note that
traction
 semigroup
 on X if and only if WW T ≥ 0, with
0 I u(t) = −yc (t) + r(t) uc (t) = y(t) (6)
= , and the system (1) with input (2) is a BCS on
I 0
and that the closed-loop system is described by coupled PDEs
X, see [7, Definition 3.3.2], provided that u ∈ C2 (0, ∞; Rn ).
and ODEs. With [4], [8], and [9] in mind, the problem of find-
Moreover,
 T let W̃ be a full rank n × 2n matrix such that ing conditions on  to have a well-posed and exponentially
W W̃ T is invertible, and define the output as
  stable system is in fact equivalent to the problem of finding
f∂ (t) the class of nonlinear control systems  able to stabilise the
y(t) = Cx(t) := W̃ (3)
e∂ (t) port-Hamiltonian system (1) in scattering form.
CALIFANO et al.: STABILITY ANALYSIS OF NONLINEAR RC SCHEMES
Let us consider the nonlinear system
⎧ ear operator à is the generator of a contraction semigroup, and
⎨ v̇1 (t) = K2 v2 (t)
∂P
 : v̇2 (t) = − ∂v (v1 (t)) − R(v2 (t))K2 v2 (t) + Bc uc (t)
⎩ 1
yc (t) = −D−T BTc K2 v2 (t) + Duc (t)
where v1 , v2 ∈ Rnc , P : Rnc → R+ is a Fréchet differentiable
function, Bc an nc × n real matrix, R(v2 ) a locally Lipschitz-
continuous matrix-valued function taking values in Rnc ×nc , D a
non-singular n × n matrix, K2 = K2T > 0 a nc × nc real matrix.
775
and norm x̃2 = x̃ | x̃ X . It is possible to prove that the lin-
that its resolvent is compact, see [9].
(7)
The first question that could arise is whether the closed-loop
system (12) is well-posed, i.e., if at least local solutions exist
for any initial condition. Due to the particular choice made for
 in (7), it turns out that solutions exist globally.
Proposition 3: Let us consider the nonlinear system (7),
and assume that (8) and (9) are satisfied. Then, the autonomous
Furthermore, P(v1 ) > P(0) = 0 for all v1 = 0, P(v1 ) → ∞ closed-loop system (12) is well-posed and, in particular, for
∂P
if |v1 | → ∞, i.e., P(v1 ) is radially unbounded, and ∂v 1
(v1 ) is any initial condition, it possesses a unique global mild solution
locally Lipschitz-continuous. which is uniformly bounded.
∂P
Proposition 2: Assume that in (7) Proof: Since ∂v 1
(v1 ) and R(v2 ) are locally Lipschitz con-
tinuous, so is f (x̃) in (9); moreover, B̃ is a bounded linear
|D| ≤ 1 (8)
operator. This implies, see [13], that for any initial condi-
1
R(v2 ) ≥ Bc D−1 D−T BTc , ∀v2 ∈ R nc
(9) tion the closed-loop system possesses a unique mild solution
2 on some time interval [0, tmax ), which is classical if the ini-
and define (v2 ) = K2 [R(v2 ) − 12 Bc D−1 D−T BTc ]K2 ,  = tial condition belongs to the domain of Ã. Furthermore, if
2 (I − D D), and Q(v1 , v2 ) = P(v1 ) + 2 v2 K2 v2 . Then, the
1 T 1 T tmax < +∞, then necessarily limt→tmax x̃(t) = +∞. In fact,
variation of Q(v1 , v2 ), i.e., of the “energy” along the system by taking the time derivative along classical solutions of the
trajectories is total energy (11), we obtain that
1 1 1 T 1
Q̇ = −vT2 (v2 )v2 − uTc uc + uTc uc − yTc yc , (10) Ėtot ≤ u u − yT y − vT2 (v2 )v2 − uTc uc
2 2 2 2
where (v2 ) ≥ 0 and  ≥ 0 since (8) and (9) hold. 1 1
+ uTc uc − yTc yc ,
Proof: This result follows by computing Q̇ along solu- 2 2
tions of (7), which exist at least locally because the functions where (10) has been taken into account, and it has been
describing  are locally Lipschitz continuous. assumed that the BCS defined in Theorem 1 is in scattering
Remark 3: Conditions (8) and (9) make the system (7) dis- form, i.e., the balance relation (5) in Prop. 1 holds. Thanks
sipative with storage function Q(v) and supply rate s(uc , yc ) = to (6) and after integration, this inequality becomes
 t
2 uc uc − 2 yc yc , i.e., Q̇ ≤ s(uc , yc ). In the same way as in
1 T 1 T
 T 
Prop. 1, we can say that such system is in scattering form, Etot (t) ≤ Etot (0) − v2 (v2 )v2 + uTc uc dτ (13)
0
which, from a dissipativity theory point of view, means that
the input-output mapping of (7) has finite L2 -gain, lower Since à generates a contraction semigroup, its domain is
than 1. dense in X̃ and solutions depends continuously on the ini-
For the closed-loop system sketched in Fig. 2, the total tial conditions. This means that (13) is true for every initial
“energy” or, more precisely, storage function, is condition. Due to the fact that (v2 ) ≥ 0 and  ≥ 0, the
previous inequality shows that Etot (t) is uniformly bounded,
1
Etot (x̃) = x2L + Q(v1 , v2 ), (11) and this means that so are xL , P(v1 (t)) and 12 vT2 (t)K2 v2 (t).
2 Now boundedness of |v2 (t)| is a consequence of the positive
where x̃ = (x, v1 , v2 ) is the state variable, and the dynamics definiteness of K2 ; boundedness of |v1 (t)| follows from the
is described by the following semi-linear differential equation assumption of radial unboundedness of P(v1 (t)), which in fact
⎧ remains bounded and forces |v1 (t)| to remain bounded as well.
⎪ ˙ = Ã x̃(t) + B̃f (x̃(t))
x̃(t)
⎪
⎨ ⎛ ⎞ The conclusion is that tmax = +∞, and thus global existence
f∂ (t)
(12)
⎪
⎪ r(t) = Wcc ⎝e∂ (t)⎠ of solution is proved.
⎩
v2 (t)
⎛ ⎞ B. Stability Analysis With Application to Repetitive
Jx Control
⎜ K 2 v2  ⎟
⎟
with à x̃ = ⎜

⎝ and D(Ã ) = D(J ) × Rnc , The aim is now to study the exponential stability of the
f∂ ⎠
−v1 + Bc W̃ closed-loop system (12) so to characterise the class of non-
e∂
∂P
 T linear systems  that results into an exponentially stable RC
f (x̃) = v1 − ∂v (v )−R(v 2 2 v2 , B̃ = 0
)K 0 I , and Wcc =
 1
1
 scheme. The stability analysis is based on [4], where exponen-
W + DW̃ −D−T BTc K2 . tial stability conditions for a similar closed-loop system have
When r(t) = 0, the linear operator is denoted by Ã, been addressed in case the BCS of Theorem 1 is passive, i.e.,
formally defined as à , but with domain D(Ã) = {Lx ∈ input and output are selected so that the balance relation (4)
H 1 (a, b; Rn ), v1 , v2 ∈ Rnc | (f∂ , e∂ , v2 ) ∈ Ker Wcc }. The new becomes 12 dtd x2L ≤ yT u.
state space is  X = X × Rnc × Rnc , endowed with the with Proposition 4: Let us consider the system (7), and assume
inner product x̃1 | x̃2  X = x1 | Lx2  + v1,1 v1,2 + v2,1 K2 v2,2
T T
that (9) holds. Furthermore, suppose that
776 IEEE CONTROL SYSTEMS LETTERS, VOL. 2, NO. 4, OCTOBER 2018

Remark 5: Thanks to Prop. 5, the nonlinear systems for

which a RC scheme is well-posed and exponentially stable are
characterised. This result is consistent with the stability con-
ditions for RC schemes in the linear case. In fact, (14) must
have a non-null feedthrough term to get an exponentially sta-
ble closed-loop system since |D| < 1. A finite-dimensional
approximation of the repetitive compensator would relax this
requirement, but in any case it would be impossible to track
Fig. 3. Equivalent representation of the RC scheme of Fig. 1.
any periodic signal. So, it is convenient to keep the infinite-
dimensional nature of the repetitive compensator, which does
not pose any implementative issues, since it is just a time
1) There exist σ1 , σ2 > 0 such that for all v1 ∈ Rnc we
∂P delay surrounded by a positive feedback loop. To be able to
have that vT1 ∂v (v1 ) ≥ σ1 P(v1 ) ≥ σ2 |v1 |2 ;
1 stabilize strictly proper plants, the solution consists in adding
2) The input and output for the BCS of Theorem 1 are so
a low-pass filter in series to the delay. This leads to a modi-
that |u(t)|2 + |y(t)|2 ≥
|(Lx)(b)|2 for some
> 0;
fied RC scheme [1], whose extension to the nonlinear scenario
3) n ≥ nc , and Bc is full rank;
is currently under investigation. Moreover, Prop. 5 implies an
4) |D| < 1.
inherent robustness property vs. parametric uncertainties of
Then, the closed-loop system (12) with r(t) = 0 is globally
system : the closed-loop system is well-posed and exponen-
exponentially stable.
tially stable as long as (8), (9) and conditions 1-4) are satisfied.
Proof: Note at first that (12) has the same structure of the
Similar considerations are valid for system  in Prop. 3.
closed-loop system described in [4]. Conditions 1) and 2)
are in fact [4, Assumptions 12 and 14], respectively, and
condition 3) combined with (9) makes [4, Assumption 13]
automatically satisfied. Note that [4, Assumption 15] is IV. A SYMPTOTIC T RACKING IN N ONLINEAR RC
replaced here by  > 0, and this requirement is structurally
Asymptotic tracking in the RC scheme of Fig. 1 is achieved
true for the class of systems (7) provided that condition 4)
if, for any periodic reference signal r(t) of period T, the error
holds. Thus, [4, Th. 20] holds, and (12) is globally exponen-
e(t) = r(t) − yc (t) vanishes asymptotically, i.e., limt→∞ e(t) =
tially stable.
0. In the linear case, this property has been assumed to be
Remark 4: The major requirement to have exponential sta-
satisfied once the closed-loop system is stable [1]. In fact,
bility when the BCS of Theorem 1 is passive, see [4] and [9],
according to internal model-based arguments that “classically”
is the presence of a non-null feedthrough term in the controller,
state that if the model of the exogenous signal generator is
responsible for damping the high-frequency terms in the
properly included in the loop, C(s) in this case, and if the
infinite-dimensional system. It this letter, since systems in scat-
closed-loop system is exponentially stable, then asymptotic
tering form are considered, such requirement is transformed
tracking of the exogenous signals is assured. The nonlinear
into a small gain condition, namely |D| < 1.
case is more subtle since internal model-based arguments can-
Proposition 5: Define the system  by adding a unitary
not be invoked to state that perfect tracking is assured once
contribution to the feedthrough term of  defined in (7):
the closed-loop system is exponentially stable. In this section,
⎧
⎪
⎪ v̇1 (t) = K2 v2 (t) asymptotic tracking of RC schemes applied to the class of
⎨ ∂P nonlinear systems characterised in Prop. 5 is proved.
v̇2 (t) = − ∂v (v1 (t)) − R(v2 (t))K2 v2 (t)
: 1 (14) Definition 1: A signal s(t) : R → Rn is asymptotically T-
⎪
⎪ + B u
c c (t)
⎩ −T periodic if limt→∞ |s(t) − s(t + nT)| = 0, ∀n ∈ N.
yc (t) = −D Bc K2 v2 (t) + (D + I)uc (t)
T
Proposition 6: Refer the RC scheme of Fig. 1, and consider
Then, for the class of systems , the nonlinear RC scheme the formulation of the delay as a BCS in port-Hamiltonian
of Fig. 1 is well-posed if (8) and (9) hold. Moreover, such form of Prop. 1. Perfect tracking of periodic reference signals
closed-loop system is exponentially stable if conditions 1-4) r(t) of period T is achieved if and only if the state of the
in Prop. 4 are satisfied. delay equation in the closed-loop system is such that for all
Proof: As discussed in [8], the repetitive compensator C(s) z ∈ [0, T], x(t, z) is asymptotically T-periodic.
is a BCS in port-Hamiltonian form, but it is not in scattering Proof: The results follows once the RC scheme in Fig. 1
form. To apply the results presented in the previous section, is considered. Asymptotic tracking is achieved if, at steady
let us refer to the block diagram of Fig. 3 that is equiva- state, e(t) = v(t) − v(t − T) = 0, being v(t) the input of the
lent to the RC scheme of Fig. 2 once the positive feedback delay, and this is possible if and only if v(t) is an asymptotic
loops (dashed lines) around the delay e−sT and system  are T-periodic signal, which implies that x(t, z) is asymptotically
removed. Since as discussed in Prop. 1, the delay is a BCS T-periodic for all z ∈ [0, T].
in scattering form, the properties of the RC scheme can be Now, the state of the delay system in Fig. 1 is asymptotically
studied by relying on the closed-loop system that is obtained T-periodic in the sense of Prop. 6 if and only if the state of the
from the feedback interconnection of  with the delay equa- delay system in Fig. 3, in which the (dashed) positive feed-
tion and, as a consequence, on the results presented in back loops are removed, is asymptotically T-periodic. Such
Propositions 3 and 4. closed-loop system can be described by (12). For this system,
CALIFANO et al.: STABILITY ANALYSIS OF NONLINEAR RC SCHEMES
a local asymptotic tracking result is given, under the following
assumption.
Assumption 1: For system (12), there exist R0 ⊂ Rn , and
X0 ⊂ 
 X such that for all the initial conditions x̃(0) ∈ 
X0 , and
all the reference signals r(t) ∈ R0 we have that
 
x̃(t)
X ≤ χ x̃(0)X + γ (|r|∞ ) (15)
for all t ∈ R+ , and for some class-K functions χ and γ .
Before stating the result that assures that local asymptotic
tracking can be obtained in a nonlinear RC scheme under the
conditions of Prop. 5, some preliminary results are presented.
In what follows, for any signal s(t), let n s(t) = s(t) − s(t +
nT), with T > 0 and n ∈ N.
Proposition 7: Consider a system in the form
ζ̇ (t) = f (ζ (t)) + bu(t) (16)
with ζ ∈ Rnζ , u ∈ Rnu , and f : Rnζ → Rnζ a smooth function.
If (16) is 0-locally exponentially stable, then there exist ρ, ε >
0 any solution ζ (t) to (16) that fulfills |ζ (0)| ≤ ρ and |u|∞ ≤ ε
also satisfies
lim sup |n ζ (t)| ≤ α lim sup |n u(t)| (17)
t→∞ t→∞
for some α > 0. Thus, in particular, if u(t) is asymptotically
T-periodic, so is ζ (t).
The proof of Prop. 7 is reported in the Appendix.
Proposition 8: Let us consider (12) under Assumption 1,
and suppose that the conditions for exponential stability in
Prop. 5 are satisfied. Then, there exist R ⊂ Rn , X ⊂ X , and
 > 0 such that, if D, Bc and K2 in (7) fulfil |D−T BTc K2 | ≤ ,
then for any solution x̃(t) to (12) such that x̃(0) ∈ X which
corresponds to a T-periodic reference signal r(t) such that
r(t) ∈ R for all t ≥ 0, the state evolution is asymptot-
ically T-periodic. Thus, asymptotic perfect tracking of the
corresponding RC scheme is achieved.
Proof: Because of Prop. 6, it is sufficient to show the exis-
tence of R, X , and  such that the trajectories x̃(t) of (12)
are asymptotically T-periodic. Now, denote by v = (v1 , v2 )
the state of (7), system that is 0-locally exponentially stable,
and then apply Prop. 7 with (ζ, u) ≡ (v, uc ). This yields the
existence of ρ, ε, α > 0 such that
lim sup |n v(t)| ≤ α lim sup |n uc (t)| (18)
t→∞ t→∞
for all the solutions that satisfy |v(0)| ≤ ρ and |uc (t)|∞ ≤ ε,
for all t ≥ 0. Let us now consider the closed-loop system (12),
and with d = |D| < 1 pick δ such that d < δ < 1.
Moreover, define  = α1 (δ − d), and denote by R0 and  X0
the sets for which Assumption 1 holds. Let for convenience
L = |D−T BTc K2 |, and define the following sets
 dissipation d(v2 ) and the feedthrough term S in (19), the
 = (x, v) ∈ 
X X0 | x∞ ≤ ε, |v| ≤ ρ,
 
−1 ε 
(x, v)
X ≤χ (1 − d)
2L
   In this letter, continuous-time nonlinear RC has been stud-
−1 ε 
R = r ∈ R0 | |r| ≤ (Lγ + I) (1 − d)
2L
where Lγ + I denotes the map (Lγ + I)(s) = Lγ (s) + s, with
s ∈ R and positive. Let us select a T-periodic reference signal
777
r(t) such that r(t) ∈ R, and an initial condition x̃(0) ∈ 
X . This
latter hypothesis implies that |v(0)| ≤ ρ, and then that (18)
holds, provided that |uc (t)| ≤ ε.
In this respect, with the formulation of the delay as a BCS
given in Prop. 1 in mind, and with reference to Figures 2 and 3,
suppose that |x(t, T)| ≤ ε for all t ∈ [nT, (n + 1)T], and for
some n ∈ N. Then, for all t ∈ [nT, (n + 1)T], uc (t) = x(t, T)
fulfils |uc (t)| ≤ ε. Moreover, in view of (7) and (15), for all
t ∈ [nT, (n + 1)T] we have that
|yc (t) − r(t)| ≤ L|v(t)| + d|uc (t)| + |r(t)|
 
≤ Lχ x̃(0)X + Lγ (|r|∞ ) + dε + |r|∞
≤ (1 − d)ε + dε = ε
Note that x(t, 0) = r(t)−yc (t), which implies that |x(t, 0)| ≤ ε
for all t ∈ [nT, (n + 1)T], and then that |x(t, T)| ≤ ε for all
t ∈ [(n + 1)T, (n + 2)T]. Since by definition of X  we have
that |x(t, T)| ≤ ε for all t ∈ [0, T], we claim by induction that
|x(t, T)| ≤ ε for all t ≥ 0. As a consequence, we have also
that |uc (t)| = |x(t, T)| ≤ ε for all t ≥ 0, and then (18) holds.
Since r(t) is T-periodic, then |n r(t)| = 0 and, in view
of (18), we have that
lim sup |n uc (t)| ≤ lim sup |n yc (t)|
t→∞ t→∞
≤ L lim sup |n v(t)| + d lim sup |n uc (t)|
t→∞ t→∞
≤ (αL + d) lim sup |n uc (t)|
t→∞
If we suppose that L ≤ , the above relation yields
lim supt→∞ |n uc (t)| ≤ δ lim supt→∞ |n uc (t)|, which
implies that lim supt→∞ |n uc (t)| = 0 since d < δ < 1. This
fact proves that uc (t) is asymptotically T-periodic, which in
view of (18) implies that so are also v(t) and, thus, x(t, z)
for all z ∈ [0, T]. Then, the asymptotic tracking for the RC
scheme is an immediate consequence of Prop. 6.
To illustrate the validity of the approach, in Fig. 5 it is shown
how a RC scheme is able to let a system  in the form (14)
to track a reference signal and reject an additive disturbance
on the output, both periodic of period T = 1 s. The plant is
obtained by starting from a 2nd -order passive system  that
models, e.g., a mechanical actuator with nonlinear damping:
⎧
⎨ v̇1 (t) = v2 (t)
 
 : v̇2 (t) = −v1 (t) − d v2 (t) + up (t) (19)
⎩
yp (t) = v2 (t) + Sup (t)
Then, a Cayley transformation on the input / output mapping
has been applied to get a system in scattering form and with
the addition of an unitary feedthrough term (see Fig. 4). For
reasonable values of the parameters, namely the nonlinear
transformed system fits in the class (14).
V. C ONCLUSION
ied, and a characterisation of a class of nonlinear systems
that gives, at first a RC scheme that is well-posed, and then
exponentially stable has been presented. The problem has
been tackled by decomposing the closed-loop system into the
778 IEEE CONTROL SYSTEMS LETTERS, VOL. 2, NO. 4, OCTOBER 2018

f̃  (ζ )h + ρζ (h). This implies that, for all

> 0 there exists
σ (
) > 0 such that |ρζ (h)| ≤
|h| for all |h| ≤ σ (
). Now, let
γ (
) = min{δ(
/2), 12 σ (
/2)}. Then, for all ζ1 , ζ2 ∈ Rnζ such
that |ζ1 | ≤ γ (
) and |ζ2 | ≤ γ (
), we have that |ζ2 | ≤ δ(
/2),
and |ζ1 − ζ2 | ≤ σ (
/2), and consequently
Fig. 4. System (19) with the input / output Cayley transformation. |f̃ (ζ1 ) − f̃ (ζ2 )| ≤ |f̃  (ζ2 )||ζ1 − ζ2 | + |ρζ (ζ1 − ζ2 )|
≤
|ζ1 − ζ2 | (20)
Given μ(
) = 12 γ (
),
= 2|P| 1
, and ζ̄ and ū obtained from
Lemma 1 with μ = μ(
), let us consider any input u(t) such
that |u|∞ ≤ ū, and the corresponding solution ζ (t) so that
|ζ (0)| ≤ ζ̄ . For n ∈ N, let ζn (t) = ζ (t + nT) and un (t) = u(t +
nT). Then, ζ̇ (t + nT) = Aζ (t + nT) + f̃ (ζ (t + nT)) + bu(t + nT),
which implies that Un (t) = V(ζ (t) − ζn (t)) is such that
 
U̇n = 2(ζ − ζn )T P A(ζ − ζn ) + f̃ (ζ ) − f̃ (ζn ) + b(u − un )
≤ −2|ζ − ζn |2 + 2|P||ζ − ζn ||f̃ (ζ ) − f̃ (ζn )|
+ 2|P||b||ζ − ζn ||u − un |
In view of Lemma 1, it is possible to check that for all t ≥
0 we have that |ζ (t) − ζn (t)| ≤ 2μ(
), and from (20) that
Fig. 5. Asymptotic tracking and disturbance rejection of the RC system |f̃ (ζ (t))− f̃ (ζn (t))| ≤ 2|P|
1
|ζ (t)−ζn (t)|, which implies that U̇ ≤
in which  is the plant depicted in Fig. 4. In (19), we have selected
S = 1.5 and d(v2 ) = 5v23 : with these choices the transformed system 
−|ζ −ζn | +4μ(
)|P||b|·|u−un |. Such inequality implies (17),
2

fits in (14).
interconnection of a BCS in port-Hamiltonian form, associated
with the repetitive compensator, with the nonlinear plant. Well-
posedness and stability of the closed-loop system have been
proved by exploiting their dissipativity properties. Finally, a
proof of (local) asymptotic tracking of exogenous periodic ref-
erence signals has been provided under the major requirement
that the closed-loop system is exponentially stable.
A PPENDIX
P ROOF OF P ROPOSITION 7
A preliminary result is stated in the next lemma.
Lemma 1: Consider a system in the form (16), and assume
that it is 0-locally exponentially stable. Then, for each μ ≥ 0,
there exist ζ̄ , ū > 0 such that all the solutions of (16) such
that |ζ (0)| ≤ ζ̄ and |u(t)| ≤ ū, for all t ≥ 0, satisfies |ζ (t)| ≤ μ
for all t ≥ 0.
Proof: This result is based on ISS considerations and, due
to space limitations, the proof has been omitted.
We are now ready to present the proof of Prop. 7.
∂f
For (16), define f̃ (ζ ) = f (ζ ) − Aζ , where A = ∂ζ (0). Then,
lim|ζ |→0 |f̃|ζ(ζ|)| = 0. Denote by P = PT > 0 the unique solution
to the Lyapunov equation AT P + PA = −2I, and define the
∂ f̃
function V(ζ ) = ζ T Pζ . Let f̃  (ζ ) := ∂ζ (ζ ), since f̃  (0) = 0
and f̃  (·) is continuous, then limζ →0 |f̃  (ζ )| = 0. Hence, for
any
> 0, there exists δ(
) > 0 such that |ζ | ≤ δ(
) Control Conf., Boston, MA, USA, Jun. 1991, pp. 2646–2647.
implies |f̃  (ζ )| ≤
. Moreover, since f̃  (ζ ) is the (unique) [12] D. H. Owens, L. M. Li, and S. P. Banks, “Multi-periodic repetitive
f̃ (ζ )−f̃  (h)|
linear map such that lim|h|→0 |f̃ (ζ +h)−|h| = 0, with
h ∈ R ζ , then there exists a function ρζ : Rnζ → Rnζ sat-
n [13] Z. Luo, B.-Z. Guo, and Ö. Morgul, Stability and Stabilization of Infinite
|ρ (h)|
isfying lim|h|→0 ζ|h| = 0 and such that f̃ (ζ + h) − f̃ (ζ ) =
and if |u(t) − un (t)| = |u(t) − u(t + nT)| → 0 then we have
also that |ζ (t) − ζn (t)| = |ζ (t) − ζ (t + nT)| → 0. The claim
follows once ρ = ζ̄ and ε = ū.
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