Quantised consensus by using the PD-like protocols in directed networks

This paper studies the distributed consensus problem in sampled-data multi-agent systems with directed network topologies subject to a quantisation constraint. Different from the widely used consensus protocol which exploits current information, we adopt a distributed proportional-differential (PD)-like protocol. First, we provide a necessary and sufficient condition of control gains which guarantee the consensus with the assumption that real-valued communication information can be obtained. Next, we analyse the quantisation effects in system performances under the proposed protocol; it is proved that the quantised consensus can be achieved. Finally, by providing numerical examples, we show that with appropriate parameters, the consensus can be achieved and the quantisation noises can be attenuated effectively.