Synchronization of complex dynamical networks with switching topology: A switched system point of view

In this paper, we study the synchronization problem for complex dynamical networks with switching topology from a switched system point of view. The synchronization problem is transformed into the stability problem for time-varying switched systems. We address two basic problems: synchronization under arbitrary switching topology, and synchronization via design of switching within a pre-given collection of topologies when synchronization cannot be achieved by using any topology alone in this collection. For the both problems, we first establish synchronization criteria for general connection topology. Then, under the condition of simultaneous triangularization of the connection matrices, a common Lyapunov function (for the first problem) and a single Lyapunov and multiple Lyapunov functions (for the second problem) are systematically constructed respectively by those of several lower-dimensional dynamic systems. In order to achieve synchronization using multiple Lyapunov functions, a stability condition and switching law design method for time-varying switched systems are also presented, which avoid the usual non-increasing condition.