Allocation of Excitation Signals for Generic Identifiability of Linear Dynamic Networks

Abstract: A recent research direction in data-driven modeling is the identification of dynamic networks, in which measured vertex signals are interconnected by dynamic edges represented by causal linear transfer functions. The major question addressed in this paper is where to allocate external excitation signals such that a network model set becomes generically identifiable when measuring all vertex signals. To tackle this synthesis problem, a novel graph structure, referred to as \textit{directed pseudotree}, is introduced, and the generic identifiability of a network model set can be featured by a set of disjoint directed pseudotrees that cover all the parameterized edges of an \textit{extended graph}, which includes the correlation structure of the process noises. Thereby, an algorithmic procedure is devised, aiming to decompose the extended graph into a minimal number of disjoint pseudotrees, whose roots then provide the appropriate locations for excitation signals. Furthermore, the proposed approach can be adapted using the notion of \textit{anti-pseudotrees} to solve a dual problem, that is to select a minimal number of measurement signals for generic identifiability of the overall network, under the assumption that all the vertices are excited.