  In order to enhance the performance of cyber-physical systems, this paper
proposes the integrated de-sign of distributed controllers for distributed
plants andthe control of the communication network. Conventionaldesign methods
use static interfaces between both enti-ties and therefore rely on worst-case
estimations of com-munication delay, often leading to conservative behaviorof
the overall system. By contrast, the present approachestablishes a robust
distributed model-predictive controlscheme, in which the local subsystem
controllers oper-ate under the assumption of a variable communicationschedule
that is predicted by a network controller. Us-ing appropriate models for the
communication network,the network controller applies a predictive network
policyfor scheduling the communication among the subsystemcontrollers across
the network. Given the resulting time-varying predictions of the age of
information, the papershows under which conditions the subsystem controllerscan
robustly stabilize the distributed system. To illustratethe approach, the paper
also reports on the application to avehicle platooning scenario.
