Finite-Horizon <i>H</i>_∞ Consensus Control for IoT-Enabled Multi-Agent Systems With Stochastic Scheduling and Relay-Assisted Communications

Abstract

The Internet of Things (IoT) increasingly relies on large-scale networked agents that cooperate over bandwidth-limited and unreliable wireless links. This paper studies the finite-horizon H<inf>∞</inf> consensus control problem for a class of discrete-time IoT-enabled multi-agent systems subject to random parameters, stochastic communication scheduling, and relay-assisted transmissions. To reflect practical IoT communication constraints, a novel transmission framework is considered that integrates a stochastic communication protocol with a decode-and-forward relay mechanism under random packet losses. Within this framework, only a subset of sensing information is scheduled for transmission, encoded, decoded, and forwarded by relay nodes to improve communication reliability and coverage. Based on the resulting networked system model, a distributed consensus controller is designed to attenuate the effects of disturbances and communication uncertainties over a finite time horizon. Sufficient conditions guaranteeing finite-horizon H<inf>∞</inf> consensus are derived in terms of recursive linear matrix inequalities, and a corresponding controller synthesis algorithm is developed. Simulation results illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach in achieving robust consensus for IoT-enabled multi-agent systems operating over stochastic relay-assisted communication networks.