Jitterbug and TrueTime: Analysis Tools for Real-Time Control Systems

The paper presents two recently developed, Matlab-based analysis tools for realtime control systems. The first tool, called Jitterbug, is used to compute a performance criterion for a control loop under various timing conditions. The tool makes it easy to quickly judge how sensitive a controller is to implementation effects such as slow sampling, delays, jitter, etc. The second tool, called TrueTime, allows detailed co-simulation of process dynamics, control task execution, and network communication in a distributed real-time control system. Arbitrary scheduling policies may be used, and the tasks may be written in C code, Matlab code, or implemented as Simulink block diagrams.