Analysis and design of reliable control systems for urban traffic networks

Abstract

This work deals with the analysis and design of reliable traffic control systems for urban transportation networks. The dynamics of queue length in front of the intersections are captured by a nonlinear state space model where a limit-reset function is introduced to maintain the non-negativity of the queues for traffic conditions ranging from undersaturation to oversaturation. A reliable control system is then synthesized to maintain system integrity (stability and vehicle flow regulation) under partial system failure brought about by local faults such as sensor and actuator failure, vehicle accidents and severing of communication links. It is shown that the reliable conditions are rather mild and can readily be satisfied by a properly designed decentralized propotional–integral-type controller. A detailed case study is also included in this work to demonstrate the properties of a reliable traffic network.

Keywords:

• Area traffic control
• Reliable design
• Traffic systems

Acknowledgements

This work was supported, in part, by Department of Transportation – National Center for Transportation and Industrial Productivity (DOT – NCTIP) grant No. 991912.

Dr. Zhengfang Chen received her Ph.D. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from New Jersey Institute of Technology in 1997 and her M.S. and B.S. degrees from Tsinghua University, Beijing, China in 1990 and 1987 respectively. Currently she is a software engineer with Mobile Devices CDMA Division of Motorola Inc. She has been a software engineer with Lucent Technologies and Agere Systems from 1997 to 2002. Her research interests include: reliable control systems, fault tolerant control systems, traffic network modeling and optimal control systems, and robotics.

Timothy Chang is an Associate Professor and Coordinator of the Intelligent Systems Area at the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, NJIT. He received his B. Eng. (honors) from McGill University, Canada in 1980 and his M.A.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from University of Toronto, Canada in 1982 and 1989. From 1987 to 1991, he was a Senior Research Specialist at the Kearfott Guidance and Navigation Corporation, NJ, where he was in charge of the Doppler-mirror ring laser gyroscope program. His research interests include real time systems, high precision systems, web-based decentralized control, and robotics. He was a recipient of 5 education awards at NJIT and was conferred the title of NJIT Master Teacher in 2003. His research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, National Institute of Justice, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Department of Transportation, NJ Dept. of Higher Education, NJ Commission on Science and Technology, and the US Army Research and Development Engineering Center. Dr. Chang is a member of IEEE, Sigma Xi, ASEE, and a member of the Montville Township Board of Education from 2000–2003. He is also the Chairman of the North Jersey IEEE Control Systems Chapter and IEEE Student Branch Advisor at NJIT. He holds 4 US patents with 2 patent pending.