Event‐Triggered Decentralized Control of Nonlinear Interconnected Systems With Actuator Saturation and Communication Delays

ABSTRACT

This paper studies decentralized event‐triggered control for a class of nonlinear interconnected systems with bounded time delays and actuator saturation. Saturation is handled through a polytopic representation, enabling a sampled‐data event‐triggered implementation in which each subsystem updates its control input only at triggering instants. A delay‐dependent stability analysis is developed using a Lyapunov–Krasovskii functional combined with a Bessel–Legendre integral inequality, leading to linear matrix inequality (LMI) conditions that guarantee closed‐loop stability under the proposed triggering mechanism. To connect performance and triggering design, we interpret feasible LMI solutions as computable quadratic Lyapunov–Krasovskii storage certificates (not physical energy) that can be used to compare admissible triggering parameters and reduce unnecessary transmissions. For implementation, we also discuss an optional learning‐assisted selector that chooses or selects from a precomputed library of LMI‐feasible parameters using local measurements, while preserving the same LMI‐certified stability guarantees. Simulation results on a three‐zone HVAC example, with additional validation on a multimachine power network, illustrate substantial reductions in communication events while maintaining stable closed‐loop performance.