Appendix C. Describing function method and its application for analysis of Cellular Neural Networks

Abstract

The frequency response method is a powerful tool for the analysis and design of linear control systems. It is based on describing a linear system by a complex-valued function, the frequency response, instead of differential equation. The power of the method comes from a number of sources. First, graphical representations can be used to facilitate analysis and design. Second, physical insights can be used, because the frequency response functions have clear physical meanings. Finally, the method’s complexity only increases mildly with system order. Frequency domain analysis, however cannot be directly applied to nonlinear systems because frequency response functions cannot be defined for nonlinear systems.