Networked Systems under Denial-of-Service: Co-located vs. Remote Control Architectures

Abstract: In this paper, we study networked systems in the presence of Denial-of-Service (DoS) attacks, namely attacks that prevent transmissions over the communication network. Previous studies have shown that co-located architectures (control unit co-located with the actuators and networked sensor channel) can ensure a high level of robustness against DoS. However, co-location requires a wired or dedicated actuator channel, which could not meet flexibility and cost requirements. In this paper we consider a control architecture that approximates co-location while enabling remote implementation (networked sensor and actuator channels). We analyze closed-loop stability and quantify the robustness "gap" between this architecture and the co-located one.