Extension of first order predictive functional controllers to handle higher order internal models

Predictive Functional Control (PFC), belonging to the family of predictive control techniques, has been demonstrated as a powerful algorithm for controlling process plants. The input/output PFC formulation has been a particularly attractive paradigm for industrial processes, with a combination of simplicity and effectiveness. Though its use of a lag plus delay ARX/ARMAX model is justified in many applications, there exists a range of process types which may present difficulties, leading to chattering and/or instability. In this paper, instability of first order PFC is addressed, and solutions to handle higher order and difficult systems are proposed. The input/output PFC formulation is extended to cover the cases of internal models with zero and/or higher order pole dynamics in an ARX/ARMAX form, via a parallel and cascaded model decomposition. Finally, a generic form of PFC, based on elementary outputs, is proposed to handle a wider range of higher order oscillatory and non-minimum phase systems. The range of solutions presented are supported by appropriate examples.