On the sufficiently small sampling period for the convenient tuning of fractional order hold circuits R. Bárcena* and M. De la Sen** *Departamento de Electrónica y Telecomunicaciones, Universidad del País Vasco, E. U. Ingeniería Tca. Industrial. Plaza de La Casilla, 3. Aptdo. 48012 de Bilbao, Spain E-mail: jtpbarur@lg.ehu.es **Instituto de Investigación y Desarrollo de Procesos, Universidad del País Vasco, Facultad de Ciencias, Leioa (Bizkaia). Aptdo. 644 de Bilbao, Spain Abstract. Remarkable improvements in the performance of digitally handled systems may be achieved by using properly adjusted Fractional Order Hold (FROH) circuits. Nevertheless, the tuning methods formerly proposed in the bibliography are exclusively applicable for certain range of sufficiently small sampling periods. In this paper, such a range is analytically obtained and its significance for the applicability of such methods is discussed. 1. Introduction. The location of the plant zeros critically influences the performance that can be achieved when operating such a system –see, e. g., [1] and references therein-. In recent years, important attention has been paid to the behaviour of the discrete zeros of the digitally managed systems, depending on the used signal reconstruction method and sampling period –see, [2], [3] and references therein-. In this context, it has been shown –see [4]- that it is always possible to obtain discrete zeros with larger convergence abscissa than the zeros obtained by using a Zero Order Hold (ZOH) or First Order Hold (FOH), by means of an appropriate choice of negative values of the adjustable gain of a Fractional Order Hold (FROH) circuit. Moreover, an analytical technique for obtaining the optimum FROH parameter for each discretization has been proposed [4]. In particular, such a method leads to a mathematical expression in closed form for the optimum FROH parameter, when applied to the discretization process of zero-free second-order continuous-time plants. The magnitude of the discrete zeros obtained in such a way is around 50 % smaller than the corresponding ZOH (or FOH) ones. Thus, important improvements on the performance of the handled systems have been obtained in many cases –see an application example in [5]-. At first, a theoretical constraint exists on the maximum sampling period when such a FROH circuit tuning method is applied. This maximum value depends exclusively on the continuous-time parameters of the plant to be discretized. In this paper, such a limiting sufficiently small sampling period is studied, as well as the drawback that such a restriction may entail to the use of conveniently adjusted FROH devices. The previous results related to the problem are reviewed in the preliminary section 2. The main result on the sufficiently small sampling period for the convenient tuning of FROH devices when zero-free second- 1 order systems are manipulated, is presented in section 3. The drawback that such restriction may entail in practice is discussed in section 4. Finally, an application example is presented in section 5 and the conclusion is drawn in section 6. 2. Preliminaries and previous results. In order to design a digital control scheme, the focus is on the discrete-time system composed of a hold circuit, the nth order continuous-time plant and a sampler in series. When a fractional-order hold (FROH) is used, the plant input is u( KT ) − u(( K − 1)T ) u(t ) = u( KT ) + β (t − KT ) T where KT ≤ t < (K + 1)T (1) where K is a non-negative integer, T the sampling period and β the device adjustable gain. In such cases, the root-locus (RL) approach, with the parameter β used as the generalised gain, have been applied to study the location of the discrete-time zeros on the complex plane. General –for any continuous plant- properties of such RL have been detected. Based on such properties, the following previous results about the stability properties of the FROH discretization zeros have been presented and proved in [4]. Result 1: Assume that a given nth order continuous-time plant has a relative degree p, such that 1≤p≤n. Then, it is always possible to obtain FROH discrete zeros with larger convergence abscissa –i. e. more stable ones- than the ZOH (β=0) and FOH (β=1) ones, by means of an appropriate choice of negative values of β when T→+0. Result 2: Assume that a given nth order continuous-time plant has a relative degree p=2≤n and is operated by a FROH. Then, the breakaway point located between both starting points of the Complementary Root Locus (CRL) describing the FROH zeros evolution with β has the best convergence position of such a locus for any value of β when T→+0. Result 3: Assume that a given nth order continuous-time plant is zero-free (p=n≥1) and operated by a FROH. Then, Result 1 is also true for finite sufficiently small sampling periods T such that 0<T<TS2, where TS2 can be obtained from the continuous-time parameters of the system. In addition, Result 2 is also true if 0<T<TS2 and p=n=2, that is, for the discretization of zero-free second order continuous plants. 3. The main result on the sufficiently small T for zero-free second-order systems. Theorem 1 below replaces and extends Result 3 above for the FROH discretization of zero-free second-order systems. 2 Theorem 1: Maximum allowable sampling period. Assume that a given second-order continuous-time plant is zero-free (p=n=2) and operated by a FROH. Then, Results 1 and 2 are also true for finite small sampling periods T such that 0<T<TS2, where TS 2 = π I (2) being I the imaginary part of the poles of the continuous plant transfer function. Proof: As presented in the previous section, the FROH tuning method described in [4] is based on certain general properties concerning the generalised root locus (GRL) that describes the evolution on the complex plane of the discrete zeros as a function of the adjustable gain of the FROH circuit. In particular, such properties refer to the positions on the real axis of the generalised starting and terminating points –see lemmas 1 and 3 in [4]-. Now, these positions are obtained for the FROH discretization of a zero-free second-order system described by G( s) = ω n2 s + 2δω n s + ω n2 (3) 2 where ωn is the undamped natural frequency and δ the damping ratio of the plant. Two cases are considered separately. (i) Complex poles: If –1<δ<1, the poles are complex conjugate and G(s) can be defined as G( s) = C1 (s + R) 2 (4) + I2 where C1 is the direct gain. I is the imaginary and (–R) the real part of the poles. Discretizing the transfer function (4) by using a ZOH circuit –see [1]-, a discrete plant with the following numerator is obtained N T 0 ( z ) = z 2 ⋅ [ A + B ] + z ⋅ −2 Ae − R⋅T cos( I ⋅ T ) − B ( e − R⋅T cos( I ⋅ T ) + 1) + Ce − R ⋅T sin( I ⋅ T ) + Ae −2⋅R⋅T + Be − R⋅T cos( I ⋅ T ) − Ce − R⋅T sin( I ⋅ T ) A= where : C1 C C1 ⋅ R ; B = −A = − 2 1 2 ; C = − 2 R +I R +I I ⋅ ( R2 + I 2 ) (5) (6) 2 On the other hand, if a FOH circuit is used, the numerator of the resulting discrete plant is N T 1 ( z ) = ( A + D ) ⋅ ( z − 1) ⋅ ∆ + E ⋅ ∆ + ( B + F ) ⋅ ( z − 1) ⋅ ( z − e − R⋅T ⋅ cos( I ⋅ T ) ) 2 + ( C + G ) ⋅ ( z − 1) ⋅ ( e − R⋅T ⋅ sin( I ⋅ T ) ) 2 ∆ = z 2 − 2 ⋅ z − e − R⋅T ⋅ cos( I ⋅ T ) + e −2⋅R⋅T where : D=− (7) 2 ⋅ C1 ⋅ R T ⋅ ( R2 + I ) 2 2 ; E = A = −B = 2 ⋅ C1 ⋅ R C1 ; F = −D = ; 2 R + I2 T ⋅ ( R2 + I 2 ) 2 G= C1 R 2 − I 2 ⋅ T ⋅ I ( R 2 + I 2 )2 (8) It have been demonstrated –see [4]- that the GRL describing the evolution of the FROH zeros on the complex plane can be expressed as 3 N ( z ) − zN T 0 ( z ) 1 + β T1 =0 zN T 0 ( z ) (9) where β is the device adjustable gain. Thus, the open-loop generalised transfer function is N ( z ) − z ⋅ N T 0 ( z ) ( z − 1) ⋅ ( z − zTP ) GOL ( z ) = T 1 = z ⋅(z − z ) z ⋅ NT 0 ( z) SP (10) given that there will always be one fixed starting point (β=0) located on the real axis at z=0 and one fixed terminating point (β=±∞) at z=1 [4]. From (5) and (7), one gets that N T 1 ( z ) − z ⋅ N T 0 ( z ) = ( z − 1) ⋅ {z 2 ⋅ [ B + F − B + D ] + z ⋅ − ( 2 ⋅ D + B + F − B ) ⋅ e − R⋅T ⋅ cos( I ⋅ T ) + (C + G − C ) ⋅ e − R⋅T ⋅ sin( I ⋅ T ) − ( B + F ) (11) + ( B + F ) ⋅ e − R⋅T ⋅ cos( I ⋅ T ) − (C + G ) ⋅ e − R⋅T ⋅ sin( I ⋅ T ) + D ⋅ e − R⋅T } Hence, we have from expressions (10), (5), (6), (8) and (11) that the non-fixed starting (zSP) and terminating (zTP) points are located on the negative real axis respectively in: zSP (C1 , R, I , T ) = zSP = A ⋅ e −2⋅R⋅T + B ⋅ e − R⋅T ⋅ cos( I ⋅ T ) − C ⋅ e − R⋅T ⋅ sin( I ⋅ T ) −2 ⋅ A ⋅ e − R⋅T ⋅ cos( I ⋅ T ) − B ⋅ ( e − R⋅T ⋅ cos( I ⋅ T ) + 1) + C ⋅ e − R⋅T ⋅ sin( I ⋅ T ) zTP (C1 , R, I , T ) = zTP = ( B + F ) ⋅ e − R⋅T ⋅ cos( I ⋅ T ) − (C + G ) ⋅ e − R⋅T ⋅ sin( I ⋅ T ) + D ⋅ e −2⋅R⋅T D ⋅ e − R⋅T ⋅ cos( I ⋅ T ) − G ⋅ e − R⋅T ⋅ sin( I ⋅ T ) + ( B + F ) (12) (13) Next, the conditions that should be fulfilled to allow the application of the analytical method for the FROH circuits right tuning are established. In particular, the non-fixed starting and terminating points of the GRL under study must be located on the negative real axis in such a way that zTP-zSP<0, zSP<0 and zTP<0, if the sampling period is sufficiently small –see lemma 6 in [4]-. Since, by using (12) and (13), lim zSP = −1, lim zTP = −2 and lim ( zTP − zSP ) = −1 -all being T→0 T →0 T→0 negative values-, the following limiting conditions are imposed to obtain the limiting sampling period TS2 that defines the application range (0, TS2] for the FROH tuning method: zTP − zSP = 0 ⇒ zTP = zSP (14) zSP = 0 (15) zTP = 0 (16) Due to the characteristics of the expressions (12) and (13), the resulting equations (14)-(16) belong to the transcendental type. In practice, a large fraction of equations involving transcendental functions can not be solved exactly in symbolic form. However, in this case, by taking T = k ⋅π I (∀ integer k) in the expression (14), an exact solution is obtained that implies zSP = zTP = ( −1)k e − k ⋅π ⋅ R I . Since the interest focuses on the limiting value of (0, TS2], the sampling period as small as possible must be considered, so we make k=1 and thus T=TS 2 = π . On the other hand, expressions (15) and (16) have no root inside (0, π ] . In this I I 4 way, expression (2) gives the largest sampling period for which the FROH tuning method presented in [4] is applicable. (ii) Real poles: Proceeding in the same fashion as in case (i) with |δ|≥1, it clearly follows that no restriction about the maximum value of the sampling period for the FROH analytical tuning arises when discretizing zero-free second-order plants with real poles, since TS2→∞ in such a case. The same conclusion is inferred by observing expression (2) as I→0. 4. Restrictions on the practical applicability of the FROH tuning method. It will be next demonstrated that it always exists a more restrictive condition than that in Theorem 1, imposed by the Shannon’s sampling theorem –see, e. g., [1], [6], [7]- on the sampling period of a digital system. Theorem 2: Consider a zero-free second-order continuous-time plant digitally controlled. The system output is sampled and the input generated by a FROH hold device. Then, the maximum allowable sampling period TM, imposed theoretically to prevent aliasing in the plant output sampling process, is always smaller than the maximum sampling period TS2 in Theorem 1. Proof: It is well known –see e.g. [1], [6], [7]- that, in choosing the sampling period for a control system, the sampling frequency should be at least greater than twice the highestfrequency component of significant amplitude of the signal being sampled. On the other hand, the cutoff frequency (ω0) of a plant is usually defined as the frequency at which the log-magnitude of the response is 3 dB smaller than the log-magnitude obtained at ω=0. Thus, if a generic second-order plant given by the transfer function (3) is considered, the 3 bandwidth obtained is [0, ω0] –see e.g. [7]-, where ωo = ωn 1 − 2δ 2 + 1010 − 4δ 2 + 4δ 4 . So, in the less restrictive case, the Shannon’s sampling theorem imposes a maximum value to the sampling period given by TM = π = ωo π (17) 3 10 ω n 1 − 2δ + 10 − 4δ + 4δ 2 2 4 On the one hand, if the poles of the transfer function (3) are p1,2 = −δω n ± ωn δ 2 − 1 , it follows that -1<δ<1 to warrant such poles to be complex, as it was imposed in equation (4). Hence, the poles become p1,2 = − R ± Ij = −δω n ± ω n 1 − δ 2 j . Thus, it results from eqn. (2) that TS2 = π π = I ωn 1 − δ 2 5 (18) On the other hand, suppose that if −1 < δ < 1 , it holds that F1 (δ ) = π 1−δ 2 π > 3 10 = F2 (δ ) (19) 1 − 2δ 2 + 10 − 4δ 2 + 4δ 4 Readily, if expression (19) holds, the next inequality holds 3 3δ 4 − 4δ 2 + 1010 > 0 (20) 3 3 10 Define F (δ ) = δ 2 ( 3δ 2 − 4 ) + 1010 . Thus, F (δ ) = 0 if and only if δ 1,22 = 4 ± 16 − 12 ⋅ 10 which 6 always leads to complex solutions, so that F (δ ) > 0 or F (δ ) < 0 for all real δ ∈ [ −1,1] . It is obvious that sign ( F (δ ) ) = sign ( F ( 0 ) ) = 1 ⇒ F (δ ) > 0 and expression (20) is true for all real δ ∈ [ −1,1] , what implies that expression (19) hold. Alternatively, expression (19) can be trivially probed by construction –see figure 1- for any δ ∈ [ −1,1] . -Figure 1Thus, from expressions (17), (18) and (19), we have that TM<TS2 for any ωn≠0 and −1 < δ < 1 . With |δ|≥1 -real poles-, TM<TS2 for any ωn, given that TS2→∞ as I→0. From Theorem 2, the following corollary is readily obtained. Corollary 1: In the FROH discretization of second-order zero-free systems, it is clearly demonstrated that TS2 never supposes a factual drawback in practice for the analytical FROH tuning procedure presented in Result 2 –see [4]-. Remark 1: As a matter of fact, commonly a sampling rate that is much higher than the theoretical minimum governed by the sampling theorem must be selected. Then, notice that, if Theorem 2 holds when twice the break frequency is considered for obtaining TM -the less restrictive case-, TS2>TM will clearly be true under more pragmatic assumptions, like real control schemes -where sampling rates between six and ten times the system bandwidth is contemplated- or digital signal processing systems –see, e. g., [1] and [7]-. 5. Remotely radio controlled vehicle. An illustrative example. The use of remotely controlled vehicles for reconnaissance for U.N. peacekeeping missions is nowadays a possibility under study. The desired speed is transmitted by radio to the vehicle. The zero-free second-order transfer function Gveh ( s ) = 4 4 = s 2 + 2 s + 4 ( s + 1)2 + (1.73)2 6 (21) describes conveniently –see [8] and [9] for details- the behaviour of the vehicle in order to design a speed control system. By using expressions (3), (4) and (21), the continuous parameters are ωn=2 rad/s., δ=0.5, C1=4, R=1 and I=1.73. Many reasons recommend to make use of a digital controller. Therefore, the transfer function Gveh(s) is discretized by using an appropriate sampling period T. The frequency response of Gveh(s) is presented in figure 2. By observing figure 2 or by using expression (17) , we have that ωo =2.54 rad/s. and TM=1.24 s. From equation (2) in Theorem 1, TS2=1.81 s. and TS2>TM do not suppose a factual drawback –see corollary 1- for the analytical FROH tuning procedure given by Result 2. Anyway, due to realistic assumptions, a significantly smaller sampling period T=0.1 s. is utilized for the control system design. -Figure 2Then, if a FROH device described by (1) is used to generate de continuous control signal, the evolution of the discrete zeros on the complex plane with β can be described by the following GRL, obtained from expressions (9), (5), (6), (8), (11) and shown in figure 3. ( z-1)( z + 1.8525 ) 0.339z 2 +0.289z-0.628 =0 1+ β = 1 + β z z+0.935 2 z +0.935z ( ) (22) -Figure 3From Result 2, the optimum stability point (Breakaway Point in Figure 3) zOPT= -0.4727 and the optimum β, βOPT= -0.3173 have been obtained. Notice that the FROH device adjusted to βOPT provides a zero magnitude that is 50.53% smaller than the magnitude corresponding to the ZOH zero zZOH=zSP= -0.9354. Note that, if the poles and zeros are cancelled by the digital controller, then the closed-loop response is much more oscillatory in the ZOH case, since the controller possesses a poorly damped pole which corresponds to the zero zZOH. Once the β-gain of the FROH is tuned to the value of βopt, the most stable discretization zeros arise for the given sampling period. Thus, the performance of the controlled system can be significantly improved –see also application example in [5]-. In particular, suppose that the classical model reference control scheme of pole-zero placement proposed in [1][10] is used. The desired closed loop performance is described by the characteristic polynomial AM ( z ) = z 2 + 0.2 z + 0.05 of the reference model, whose zeros are still unspecified. Now, assume that all the discrete plant poles and zeros are cancelled by the controller in order to freely choose the reference model. The closed-loop step responses, when ZOH and FROH with βOPT devices are used, are presented in figures 4 and 5, respectively, and the improvement obtained in the system performance is clearly shown. Anyway, it clearly turns out that the zero cancellation with the ZOH device is highly 7 unsuitable, but the optimal FROH is not a good choice either in this case, due to oscillatory effects arisen between sampling instants –see [1][7] for details on such effects-. -Figures 4 and 5An alternative procedure for improving the performance of the closed-loop has been proposed in [5], when the cancellation of the discrete zeros are discouraged. Such procedure consists in synthesising an appropriate pole-zero configuration for the reference model by selecting an appropriate gain β. First, the FROH are placed properly -considering the position of the roots of the desired characteristic polynomial on the complex plane- by using the CRL of the FROH zeros with β -see figure 3-. Then, those zeros are transmitted to the reference model. In this case, it was found that the best closed loop response corresponds again to βOPT=- -0.3173. The step responses obtained by the transmission to the reference model of the ZOH and the optimum FROH zeros are drawn in figures 6 and 7, respectively. -Figures 6 and 7Comparing both figures, the improvement on the controlled system performance when using a properly adjusted FROH is clearly observed. In addition, the control signals referred to such responses are displayed in figures 8 and 9. The ZOH control signal is more exigent for the electronic circuitry than the FROH one, since the power dissipation is higher when the ZOH device is utilized. A similar example, concerning a digitally controlled hard disk and explained in detail, has been presented in [5] and supplementary application cases have been described in [4] [11]. -Figures 8 and 9- 6. Conclusion. The real operability of a novel procedure that allows digitally handled systems to notably enhance their response performances has been discussed. As a result, it has been shown that there exits no constraint in practice for the application of such a method, when the continuous-time system behaviour can be described as a zero-free second-order plant. Such a case is very common in the automatic control and signal processing environments. Acknowledgments: The authors would like to thank the anonymous referees for their useful comments concerning improvements of the original version of the manuscript. This work has been partially supported by the University of the Basque Country through Project I06.I06EB8235/2000 and MCYT (Project DPI2000-0244). 8 References [1] ÅSTRÖM, K. J. and WITTENMARK, B.: Computer controlled systems. Theory and design. (Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. 1997. 3rd edition). [2] BLACHUTA, M. J.: 'On zeros of pulse transfer function', IEEE Trans. Automat. Contr., 1999, 44 (6) pp. 1229-1234. [3] DE LA SEN, M., BARCENA, R. and GARRIDO, A. J.: ‘On the intrinsic limiting zeros as the sampling period tends to zero’, IEEE Trans. Circuits Syst. Part I., 2001, 48 (7) pp. 898-900. [4] BARCENA, R. DE LA SEN, M. and SAGASTABEITIA, I.: ‘Improving the stability properties of the zeros of sampled systems with fractional order hold’, IEE Proc. Control Theory Appl., 2000, 147 (4) pp. 456- 464. [5] BARCENA, R., DE LA SEN, M., SAGASTABEITIA, I. and COLLANTES, J.M. ‘Discrete control for a computer hard disk by using a fractional order hold device’, IEE Proc. Control Theory Appl., 2001, 148 (2) pp. 117- 124. [6] PHILLIPS, C. L. Digital control systems. Analysis and design. (Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. 1990. 2nd edition). [7] KUO, B. C. Digital control systems. (Oxford University Press. New York. 1992. 2nd edition). [8] YAN, J and SALCUDEAN, S. E.: ‘Teleoperation controller design’, IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology, May 1996, pp. 244-247. [9] DORF, R. C. and BISHOP, R. H.: Modern control systems (Prentice Hall, 2000, 9th edn.) [10] ASTRÖM, K. J., WITTENMARK, B.: 'Self-tuning controllers based on pole-zero placement', IEE Proc. D, Control Theory and Applications, 1980, 127 (3) pp. 120-130 [11] BÁRCENA, R., DE LA SEN, M. and SAGASTABEITIA,I.: ‘Fractional Order Hold Tuning using Neural Networks’, Proceedings of the 2001 American Control Conference, ACC’2001, Arlington, Virginia. EEUU, June 25-27. 2001 9 Figure captions: Figure 1. Functions F1(δ) and F2(δ) involved in inequality (19) when –1<δ<1. Figure 2. Bode diagram for the remotely controlled reconnaissance vehicle. Figure 3. Generalised CRL describing the FROH zeros evolution on the complex plane with β for Gveh(s) and T=0.1s. (detail) Figure 4. Unit-step response of the compensated system by using a ZOH device, when the plant zero is cancelled by the digital controller. Figure 5. Unit-step response of the closed-loop system by using a FROH device with β=βopt=-0.3173, when the plant zero is cancelled by the digital controller. Figure 6. Unit-step response of the compensated system by using a ZOH device, when the discrete plant zero is transmitted to the reference model. Figure 7. Unit-step response of the compensated system by using a FROH device with β=βopt=-0.3173, when the discrete zero is transmitted to the reference model. Figure 8. Control signal referred to the figure 6. Figure 9. Control signal referred to the figure 7. 10 Figure 1 6 5 F1 ( δ) 4 F2 ( δ) 3 2 1 -1 -0.5 Damping ratio 11 0.5 1 Figure 2 −10 Magnitude (dB) −15 −20 −25 −30 −35 −40 0 Phase (deg) −45 −90 −135 −180 −1 10 0 10 Frequency (rad/s.) 12 1 10 Figure 3 1.5 1 Unity disk Imag Axis 0.5 0 Ztp Zsp Zzoh z=1 z=0 Zopt −0.5 −1 −1.5 −2 −1.5 −1 −0.5 0 Real Axis 13 0.5 1 1.5 Figure 4 2 1.8 1.6 1.4 1.2 1 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 Time (s.) 0.6 14 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 Figure 5 2 1.8 1.6 1.4 1.2 1 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 Time (s.) 0.6 15 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 Figure 6 1.2 1 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 Time (s.) 0.6 16 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 Figure 7 1.2 1 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 Time (s.) 0.6 17 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 Figure 8 40 30 20 10 0 −10 −20 −30 −40 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 Time (s.) 0.6 18 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 Figure 9 40 30 20 10 0 −10 −20 −30 −40 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 Time (s.) 0.6 19 0.7 0.8 0.9 1