On the problem of general structural assignments of linear systems through sensor/actuator selection

A systematic method is developed for determining an output matrix C for a given matrix pair (A; B) such that the resulting linear system characterized by the matrix triple (A; B; C) has the pre-speci2ed system structural properties, such as the 2nite and in2nite zero structure and the invertibility structures. Since the matrix C describes the locations of the sensors, the procedure of choosing C is often referred to as sensor selection. The method developed in this paper for sensor selection can be applied to the dual problem of actuator selection, where, for a given matrix pair (A; C), a matrix B is to be determined such that the resulting matrix triple (A; B; C) has the pre-speci2ed structural properties. ? 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.