Distributed Coordination Algorithms with Efficient Communication for Open Multi-Agent Systems with Dynamic Communication Links and Processing Delays: Extended Version
In this paper we focus on the distributed quantized average consensus problem in open multi-agent systems consisting of dynamic directed communication links among active nodes. We propose three communication-efficient distributed algorithms designed for different scenarios. Our first algorithm solves the quantized averaging problem over the currently active node set under finite network openness (i.e., when the active set eventually stabilizes). Our second algorithm extends the aforementioned approach for the case where nodes suffer from arbitrary bounded processing delays. Our third algorithm operates over indefinitely open multi-agent networks with dynamic communication links (i.e., with continuous node arrivals and departures), computing the average that incorporates both active and historically active nodes. We analyze our algorithms' operation, establish their correctness, and present novel necessary and sufficient topological conditions ensuring their finite-time convergence. Numerical simulations on distributed sensor fusion for environmental monitoring demonstrate fast finite-time convergence and robustness across varying network sizes, departure/arrival rates, and processing delays. Finally, it is shown that our proposed algorithms compare favorably to algorithms in the existing literature.
Strategic Delay and Coordination Efficiency in Global Games
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology（阿卜杜拉国王科技大学）；University of Illinois Urbana Champaign（伊利诺伊大学厄巴纳-香槟分校）；Florida State University（佛罗里达州立大学）
Wide-scale electrification of the transportation sector will require careful planning and coordination with the power grid. Left unmanaged, uncoordinated charging of electric vehicles (EVs) at increased levels of penetration will amplify existing peak loads, potentially outstripping the grid's capacity to reliably meet demand. In this paper, we report findings from the OptimizEV Project - a real-world pilot study in Upstate New York exploring a novel approach to coordinated residential EV charging. The proposed coordination mechanism seeks to harness the latent flexibility in EV charging by of…
Truck drivers are required to stop and rest with a certain regularity according to the driving and rest time regulations, also called Hours-of-Service (HoS) regulations. This paper studies the problem of optimally forming platoons when considering realistic HoS regulations. In our problem, trucks have fixed routes in a transportation network and can wait at hubs along their routes to form platoons with others while fulfilling the driving and rest time constraints. We propose a distributed decision-making scheme where each truck controls its waiting times at hubs based on the predicted schedule…
In this paper, we propose a contention intensity based distributed coordination (CIDC) scheme for safety message broadcast. By exploiting the high-frequency and periodical features of the safety message broadcast, the application-layer design of the CIDC enables each vehicle to estimate the instantaneous channel contention intensity in a fully distributed manner. With the contention intensity information, the MAC layer design of CIDC allows vehicles to adopt a better channel access strategy compared to the 802.11p. This is because CIDC selects the initial back-off counter for each new packet d…
Coordinating intersections in arterial networks is critical to the performance of urban transportation systems. Deep reinforcement learning (RL) has gained traction in traffic control research along with data-driven approaches for traffic control systems. To date, proposed deep RL-based traffic schemes control phase activation or duration. Yet, such approaches may bypass low volume links for several cycles in order to optimize the network-level traffic flow. Here, we propose a deep RL framework that dynamically adjusts offsets based on traffic states and preserves the planned phase timings and…
Distributed Algorithms for Consensus and Coordination in the Presence of Packet-Dropping Communication Links - Part I: Statistical Moments Analysis Approach
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign（伊利诺伊大学厄巴纳-香槟分校）；University of Cyprus（塞浦路斯大学）
We consider the distributed weight balancing problem in networks of nodes that are interconnected via directed edges, each of which is able to admit a positive integer weight within a certain interval, captured by individual lower and upper limits. A digraph with positive integer weights on its (directed) edges is weight-balanced if, for each node, the sum of the weights of the incoming edges equals the sum of the weights of the outgoing edges. In this work, we develop a distributed iterative algorithm which solves the integer weight balancing problem in the presence of arbitrary (time-varying…
Inter-satellite links (ISLs) are adopted in global navigation satellite systems (GNSSs) for high-precision orbit determination and space-based end-to-end telemetry telecommand control and communications. Due to limited onboard ISL terminals, the polling time division duplex (PTDD) mechanism is usually proposed for space link layer networking. By extending the polling mechanism to ground-satellite links (GSLs), a unified management system of the space segment and the ground segment can be realized. However, under the polling system how to jointly design the topology of ISLs and GSLs during ever…
Distributed Algorithms for Consensus and Coordination in the Presence of Packet-Dropping Communication Links - Part II: Coefficients of Ergodicity Analysis Approach
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign（伊利诺伊大学厄巴纳-香槟分校）；University of Cyprus（塞浦路斯大学）
Efficient Coordination and Synchronization of Multi-Robot Systems Under Recurring Linear Temporal Logic
Department of Information Engineering, University of Padova（帕多瓦大学信息工程系）；Division of Decision and Control Systems, School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, KTH Royal Institute of Technology（皇家理工学院电气工程与计算机科学学院决策与控制系统系）
The millimeter-wave (mmW) communications is a key enabling technology in 5G to provide ultra-high throughput. Current mmW technologies rely on analog phased arrays to realize beamforming gain and overcome high path loss. However, due to a limited number of simultaneous beams that can be created with analog/hybrid phased antenna arrays, the overheads of beam training and beam scheduling become a bottleneck for emerging networks that need to support a large number of users and low latency applications. This paper introduces rainbow-link, a novel multiple access protocol, that can achieve low lat…
Consensus and synchronization in discrete-time networks of multi-agents with stochastically switching topologies and time delays
Fudan University（复旦大学）；Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences（马克斯·普朗克科学促进部数理研究所）；Santa Fe Institute for the Sciences of Complexity（圣塔菲复杂性科学研究所）
We say that a random variable is $light$-$tailed$ if moments of order $2+ε$ are finite for some $ε>0$; otherwise, we say that it is $heavy$-$tailed$. We study queueing networks that operate under the Max-Weight scheduling policy, for the case where some queues receive heavy-tailed and some receive light-tailed traffic. Queues with light-tailed arrivals are often delay stable (that is, expected queue sizes are uniformly bounded over time) but can also become delay unstable because of resource-sharing with other queues that receive heavy-tailed arrivals. Within this context, and for any given "t…
