Controllability of networked higher-dimensional systems with one-dimensional communication

In this paper, the state controllability of networked higher-dimensional linear time-invariant dynamical systems is considered, where communications are performed through one-dimensional connections. The influences on the controllability of such a networked system are investigated, which come from a combination of network topology, node-system dynamics, external control inputs and inner interactions. Particularly, necessary and sufficient conditions are presented for the controllability of the network with a general topology, as well as for some special settings such as cycles and chains, which show that the observability of the node system is necessary in general and the controllability of the node system is necessary for chains but not necessary for cycles. Moreover, two examples are constructed to illustrate that uncontrollable node systems can be assembled to a controllable networked system, while controllable node systems may lead to uncontrollable systems even for the cycle topology.This article is part of the themed issue 'Horizons of cybernetical physics'.