Benefiting from linear behaviour of a nonlinear reset-based element at certain frequencies

Abstract

This paper addresses a phenomenon caused by resetting only one of the two states of a so-called second order 'Constant in gain Lead in phase' (CgLp) element. CgLp is a recently introduced reset-based nonlinear element, bound to circumvent the well-known linear control limitation - the waterbed effect. The ideal behaviour of such a filter in the frequency domain is unity gain while providing a phase lead for a broad range of frequencies, which clearly violates the linear Bode's gain phase relationship. However, CgLp's ideal behaviour is based on a describing function, which is a first order approximation that neglects the effects of higher order harmonics in the output of the filter. Consequently, achieving the ideal behaviour is challenging when higher order harmonics are relatively large. It is shown in this paper that by resetting only one of the two states of a second order CgLp, the nonlinear filter will act as a linear one at a certain frequency, provided that some conditions are met. This phenomenon can be used to the benefit of reducing higher order harmonics of CgLp's output and achieving the ideal behaviour and thus better performance in terms of precision.