2010 International Conference on Measuring Technology and Mechatronics Automation
Synchronization of Chaotic Systems with Uncertain Parameters by Adaptive Control
Xianfeng Li, Yandong Chu
Department of Mathematics
Lanzhou Jiaotong University
Lanzhou 730070, China
e-mail: lixf1979@126.com
Abstract—This paper addresses a unified mathematical
expression describing a class of chaotic and hyper-chaotic
systems, for which the problem of synchronization between
different chaotic and hyper-chaotic systems with uncertain
parameters is studied. Based on the Lyapunov stability theory,
a novel, simple and systemic adaptive synchronization
controller is designated, the analytic expression of the
controller and the adaptive laws of parameters are developed.
Two different chaotic systems and a hyper-chaotic system are
employed as the examples to show the effectiveness of the
proposed adaptive synchronization scheme. Additionally, the
robustness of the proposed method and the effect of noise are
investigated by measuring the mean squared error of the
systems.
Keywords-chaotic system; adaptive synchronization; different
structure; uncertain parameter; noise
I. INTRODUCTION
In the past decades, chaos control and chaos
synchronization have become interesting research topics in
chaos theory and applications. Many effective
synchronization schemes have been proposed since the
pioneering work of Pecora and Carroll [1-7]. However, most
of these methods mainly concerned the synchronization of
two identical systems with certain or identical uncertain
parameters. But, in real-life applications, it is hardly the
case that the structure and the dimension of master and slave
chaotic or hyper-chaotic systems can be assumed to be
identical. Moreover, the parameters of chaotic systems are
perturbed by external inartificial factors and can not be
known exactly in priori. Therefore, synchronization of two
different chaotic and hyper-chaotic systems with uncertain
parameters is more essential and realistic in actual
applications.
References [8-14] used adaptive control techniques to
synchronize two identical or different chaotic or hyper-
chaotic systems. However, their researches only concern
some special chaotic and hyper-chaotic systems with
uncertain parameters. The commonly characters of these
special systems are lower fractal dimensions, simple
structure and less nonlinear terms. Especially, there are no
terms of nonlinearities multiplied with uncertain parameters
in both master and slave systems. That’s why their
controllers look simpler and the synchronization can be
achieved in short time interval. In this case, the extensions,
978-0-7695-3962-1/10 $26.00 © 2010 IEEE
DOI 10.1109/ICMTMA.2010.664
Andrew Chi-sing Leung
Department of Electronic Engineering
City University of Hong Kong
HKSAR
e-mail: eelungcs@cityu.edu.hk
universalities and applications of these methods are
somewhat limited.
In this paper, for a class of chaotic and hyper-chaotic
systems by a unified mathematical expression, we propose a
method to adaptive synchronize two chaotic and hyper-
chaotic systems with different structure, different dimension
and uncertain parameters. Based on the Lyapunov stability
theory, a novel, simple and systemic adaptive
synchronization controller is designated, the analytic
expression of the controller and the adaptive laws of
parameters are developed. A simple three-dimensional
chaotic system is taken as the slave system, to synchronize
an uncertain chaotic system with multi-nonlinearities and
higher fractal dimension, and an uncertain hyper-chaotic
system with Heaviside function respectively. The
effectiveness of the proposed method is illustrated by
numerical simulations of state errors between the master and
slave systems and identification curves of the parameters of
the systems. In an addition, the robustness of the proposed
method and the effect of external noise are investigated by
measuring the mean squared error of the systems.
II. SYNCHRONIZATION PRICIPLES
Suppose the master (drive) system in the form of
x f (x)  A Į (x) , (1)
where x ( x1 , x2 ," , xn1 )  :1  R is the state vector,
T n
Į (D1 , D 2 ," , D m )T  R m is the uncertain parameter vector
of the master system, and which is to be asymptotically
estimated ulteriorly. A Į is an n 1 ×m matrix which containing
the uncertain parameter vector Į . f (x) is an n 1 ×1 matrix
without the uncertain parameter vector Į . Analogously, the
slave (response) system is taken as
y g (y )  Bȕ (y )  U , (2)
where y ( y1 , y2 ," , yn2 )T  :2  R n (n 2 d n 1 ) is the
state vector, ȕ ( E1 , E 2 ," , E q )T  R q is the uncertain
parameter vector of the slave system. Bȕ is an n 2 ×q matrix
which containing the uncertain parameter vector ȕ . g (y ) is
an n 2 ×1 matrix without the uncertain parameter vector ȕ .
U (u1 , u2 ," , un2 )T  R n is an n 2 × 1 matrix, is denoted as
the control input vector.
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 Let e y  x is the synchronization error vector. The  (e, Į , ȕ )
V eT e  ĮĮ  
   ȕȕ
goal is to design an appropriate controller U such that the
eT (G (y )ȕ  F (x)Į  ke)
trajectory of the slave system (2) with initial (8)
conditions y 0 can approaches asymptotically the master  Į ([F(x)]T e)  ȕ ([G (y )]T e)
system (1) with initial conditions x0 , in this sense, we have keT e eT Pe d 0,
lim e lim y (t , y 0 )  x(t , x 0 ) 0, (3) where Pn2 u n2 diag (k1 , k2 ," , kn2 ) .
t of t of
Since the Lyapunov function V is positive definite, and
where x is the Euclidean norm. At this point, it means that 
V is negative semi-definite, we can not immediately get
the master system (1) and the slave system (2) are that the origin of error dynamical system (6) is
synchronized under the controller U as time t tends to asymptotically stable. In fact, as V  d 0 , we
infinity. have e , Į̂ , ȕ̂  Lf . From Eq. (6), we also have e  Lf . From
the fact that
III. ADAPTIVE SYNCHRONIATION CONTROLLER DESIGNS t t t
³ O (P ) e dt d eT Pedt =  V dt = V (0)  V (t ) d V (0) ,
min ³ ³
For two different chaotic or hyper-chaotic systems, 0 0 0

denotes where Omin (P ) is the minimum eigenvalue of positive

Į Į  Įˆ , ȕ ȕ  ȕˆ , e (e1 , e2 ," , en2 )T , definite matrix P . Thus we have e  L2 . According to the
A Į ( x) F(x)Į , Bȕ (y ) G (y )ȕ , Barbalat’s lemma, we have lim e 0 , that is,
t of

where Į̂ , ȕ̂ is estimate values of the uncertain parameters of lim y (t , y 0 )  x(t , x 0 ) 0 [11], the slave system (2) can
t of
Į and ȕ respectively; F (x) is an n 1 ×m matrix, G (y ) is an synchronize the master system (1) globally and
n 2 ×q matrix respectively, and the element Fij (x) in matrix asymptotically. This completes the proof.Ŷ
Remark 1. Be aware that most of typical chaotic or
F (x) satisfies Fij (x)  Lf for x  :1 Ž R n ; the element hyper-chaotic systems can be described by (1), such as
G ij (y ) in matrix G (y ) satisfies G ij (y )  Lf for chaotic and hyper-chaotic Lorenz systems, Rössler systems,
Chen systems, Lü systems, and so on. But, as for particular
y  :2 Ž R . n
error dynamical systems, the nonlinear controller (4) and the
Theorem 1. The slave system (2) can synchronize the adaptive laws of parameters (5) can be simplified ulterior.
master system (1) globally and asymptotically, if the Moreover, if the master system and the slave system
nonlinear controller is taken as satisfy f (x) g(x) , F (x) G (y ) (n 1 =n 2 , m=q), the proposed
U f (x)  F (x)Įˆ  g (y )  G (y )ȕˆ  ke , (4) scheme can be extended to the adaptive synchronization of
where control amplitude k (k1 , k2 ," , kn2 )T is an n 2 ×1 two identical chaotic or hyper-chaotic systems with
uncertain parameters.
positive constant matrix, and the adaptive laws of Remark 2. The proposed scheme can be extended to
parameters are taken as anti-synchronization of chaotic and hyper-chaotic systems
­°Įˆ [F (x)]T e with uncertain parameters by adaptive control. If we let
® . (5) e y  x is the synchronization error vector, and the
°̄ȕˆ [G (y )]T e nonlinear controller is taken as
Proof: From Eqs. (1-4), the error dynamical system is U (f (x)  F (x)Įˆ  g(y )  G (y )ȕˆ  ke) ,
e g(y )  G (y )ȕ  U  f (x)  F (x)Į and the adaptive laws of parameters are taken as
g(y )  G (y )ȕ  f (x)  F(x)Įˆ  g(y ) ­°Įˆ [F(x)]T e
 G (y )ȕˆ  ke  f (x)  F(x)Į ® .
(6) °̄ȕˆ [G (y )]T e
G (y )ȕ  F(x)Įˆ  G ( y )ȕˆ  F( x)Į  ke
IV. NUMERICAL EXAMPLES
G ( y )(ȕ  ȕˆ )  F( x)(Įˆ  Į )  ke
In order to observe the effectiveness of the proposed
G ( y )ȕ  F( x)Į  ke adaptive synchronization scheme, a new simple three-
The Lyapunov function candidate can be chosen as dimensional chaotic system [15] is employed as the slave
1 T system
V (e, Į , ȕ ) (e e  Į 2  ȕ 2 ) ! 0 , (7)
2 ­ xs as ( ys  xs )  u1
The time derivative of V along the trajectory of system °
(6) is as follows ® y s xs zs  ys  u2 (9)
°
¯ zs bs  xs ys  cs zs  u3

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to synchronize a chaotic and a hyper-chaotic systems with The controller is taken as
complex structures and uncertain parameters respectively ­u1 k1ex  zm e y  0.5( xm  aˆm ym ) zm
from beginning to end. °
A. A 3-D Chaotic System °aˆs (ey  ym  ex  xm )  ym ez  bˆm
°
The governing equations of the 3-D chaotic system with °u2 k2 e y  xm zm  e y  ym
® (13)
complex structure and higher fractal dimension are [16-17]
°0.5aˆm xm zm  0.5cˆm ym zm
­ x b  0.5 z ( x  ay ) °u 1  k e  x y  x 2  y 2
° ° 3 3 z m m m m
® y 0.5 z (ax  cy ) (10) °bˆ  cˆ (e  z )
° ¯ s s z m

¯z 1  x  y
2 2
And the adaptive laws of parameters are described as
The trace of the Jacobian matrix of system (10) ­aˆm 0.5 ym zm ex  0.5 xm zm ey
is 0.5(1  c) z , especially, when c 1 ,the trace is equal °
to z and averaging along the trajectory we get z | 0 but still °bˆ ex
° m
negative for ensuring it is dissipative, maybe resulting °°cˆm 0.5 ym zm e y
almost-Hamiltonian chaos. In this case, the parameters are ® (14)
selected as a 20 , b 0.2 , c 1 , there exists a chaotic °aˆs ex e y  ym ex  ex  xm ex
2

attractor with fractal dimension almost equal to 3. It will °

take 105 iterations with a small step-size 0.001 to generate °bˆs ez
the almost-Hamiltonian chaotic attractor, which is shown in °
°̄cˆ e  z e
2
Fig.1 with the initial transient behavior. s z m z
Then, the derivation along the trajectory of system (11)
is
dV (e, Į , ȕ )
k1ex2  k2 e2y  k3 ez2  0 (15)
dt
Based on the Lyapunov stability theory, the error
dynamical system (11) is globally asymptotically stable. It
means that the master system (10’) and the slave system (9)
are synchronized under the controller (13), the error
variables become zeros as time t tends to infinity.
Fig.1 The trajectory of the almost-Hamiltonian chaotic attractor For this numerical simulation, the uncertain parameters
System (10) is taken as the master system of slave system (9) and the master system (10’) are set
to as 5 , bs 16 , cs 1 , am 20 , bm 0.2 , cm 1
­ xm bm  0.5 zm ( xm  am ym ) respectively. Without loss of generality, choosing k1 1 ,
° k2 2 , k3 3 and using a small time-step 0.001. The state
® y m 0.5 zm (am xm  cm ym ) (10’)
° error signals ex , ey and ez between systems (9) and (10’),
¯ zm 1  xm  ym
2 2
converge asymptotically zeros and the estimated values of
Accordingly, Eqs. (9) are subtracted from Eqs. (10’),
uncertain parameters converge to am 20 , bm 0.2 ,
yields the following error dynamical system
cm 1 , as 5 , bs 16 , cs 1 as time t evolving in a
­ex as ey  as ym  as ex  as xm
° longer interval [0, 5000] for the generating process of the
°bm  0.5 xm zm  0.5am ym zm  u1 almost-Hamiltonian chaotic attractor, which are shown in
°e e e  z e  x e  x z  e Figs. 2, 3, 4 respectively.
° y x z m x m z m m y
® (11)

° m y  0.5 a x z
m m m  0.5 c y z
m m m  u 2
°ez bs  1  ex ey  ym ex  xm ey
°
°¯ xm ym  cs ez  cs zm  xm2  ym2  u3
According to Theorem 1, the Lyapunov function
candidate of system (11) is taken as
1 T
V (e, Į , ȕ ) (e e  Į 2  ȕ 2 )
2
1 T
(e e  a s2  bs2 (12) Fig. 2 Synchronization errors between systems (10’) and (9) with
2 evolving time t
 cs2  am2  bm2  cm2 )

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Fig.3 Identification curves of the uncertain parameters of the
master system (10’)
Fig.4 Identification curves of the uncertain parameters of the
slave system (9)
V. CONLUSIONS AND DISSCUSSION
In this paper, the problem of adaptive synchronization
for a class of chaotic and hyper-chaotic systems with
uncertain parameters is investigated. An effective
synchronization controller is developed and analytic
expression of the controller and the adaptive laws of
parameters are presented. The proposed method is simple
and universal, can be used to a large class of chaotic and
hyper-chaotic systems with identical or different structure
and uncertain parameters, the effectiveness and robustness
of the proposed method are demonstrated by computer
simulations.
Moreover, the more complex behaviors of chaotic
systems are believed to have much wider applications, such
as secure chaotic communication. It is believed that the use
of hyper-chaotic systems and higher fractal dimension
chaotic systems with long initial transient response can
increase the complexity of transmitting signals [18-20].
Therefore, further research into the application of the
proposed method in secure chaotic communication is still
important and insightful.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
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The authors are very grateful to Prof. Chang Y.X. and
Dr. Zhang J.G whose comments greatly improved the form
of this work. For her encouragement, inspiring discussions,
and enthused help. This research is supported by NNSF of
China (50475109), YFM of China (10826029).
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