Mutually Quadratically Invariant Information Structures in Two-Team Stochastic Dynamic Games

We formulate a two-team linear quadratic stochastic dynamic game featuring two opposing teams each with decentralized information structures. We introduce the concept of mutual quadratic invariance (MQI), which, analogously to quadratic invariance in (single team) decentralized control, defines a class of interacting information structures for the two teams under which optimal feedback control strategies are linear and easy to compute. We show that for zero-sum two-team dynamic games with MQI information structure, structured state feedback saddle-point equilibrium strategies can be computed from equivalent structured disturbance feedforward saddle point equilibrium strategies. We also show that there is a saddle-point equilibrium in linear strategies even when the teams are allowed to use nonlinear strategies. However, for nonzero-sum games we show via a counterexample that a similar equivalence fails to hold. The results are illustrated with a simple yet rich numerical example that illustrates the importance of the information structure for dynamic games.

[1]  Anders Rantzer,et al.  Robust Team Decision Theory , 2012, IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control.

[2]  T. Başar Decentralized multicriteria optimization of linear stochastic systems , 1978 .

[3]  S. Lall,et al.  An explicit state-space solution for a decentralized two-player optimal linear-quadratic regulator , 2010, Proceedings of the 2010 American Control Conference.

[4]  Anant Sahai,et al.  Information Embedding and the Triple Role of Control , 2013, IEEE Transactions on Information Theory.

[5]  Hans S. Witsenhausen,et al.  Equivalent stochastic control problems , 1988, Math. Control. Signals Syst..

[6]  R. Radner,et al.  Team Decision Problems , 1962 .

[7]  Harry J. Huang Essay Topic Writability Examined through a Statistical Approach from the College Writer's Perspective. , 2008 .

[8]  E. Rowland Theory of Games and Economic Behavior , 1946, Nature.

[9]  J. Marschak,et al.  Elements for a Theory of Teams , 1955 .

[10]  R. V. Gamkrelidze Optimal Control Processes , 2019 .

[11]  Yu-Chi Ho Team decision theory and information structures , 1980, Proceedings of the IEEE.

[12]  Sanjay Lall,et al.  Optimal Control of Two-Player Systems With Output Feedback , 2013, IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control.

[13]  Ashutosh Nayyar,et al.  Decentralized Stochastic Control with Partial History Sharing: A Common Information Approach , 2012, IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control.

[14]  Sanjay Lall,et al.  An algebraic framework for quadratic invariance , 2010, 49th IEEE Conference on Decision and Control (CDC).

[15]  Babak Hassibi,et al.  Indefinite-Quadratic Estimation And Control , 1987 .

[16]  H. Witsenhausen On Information Structures, Feedback and Causality , 1971 .

[17]  H. Witsenhausen A Counterexample in Stochastic Optimum Control , 1968 .

[18]  T. Başar,et al.  Dynamic Noncooperative Game Theory , 1982 .

[19]  Tamer Basar,et al.  Stochastic Networked Control Systems , 2013 .

[20]  Sanjay Lall,et al.  A Characterization of Convex Problems in Decentralized Control$^ast$ , 2005, IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control.

[21]  Sanjay Lall,et al.  Optimal Controller Synthesis for Decentralized Systems Over Graphs via Spectral Factorization , 2014, IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control.

[22]  Anant Sahai,et al.  Approximately Optimal Solutions to the Finite-Dimensional Witsenhausen Counterexample , 2013, IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control.

[23]  R. Radner,et al.  Economic theory of teams , 1972 .

[24]  T. Basar,et al.  H∞-0ptimal Control and Related Minimax Design Problems: A Dynamic Game Approach , 1996, IEEE Trans. Autom. Control..

[25]  Tamer Basar,et al.  Stochastic Differential Games and Intricacy of Information Structures , 2014 .

[26]  Y. Ho,et al.  Team decision theory and information structures in optimal control problems--Part II , 1972 .

[27]  R Bellman,et al.  On the Theory of Dynamic Programming. , 1952, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[28]  Maryam Kamgarpour,et al.  Information Structure Design in Team Decision Problems , 2017, ArXiv.

[29]  Joan Feigenbaum,et al.  Information Structures , 1999, Handbook of Discrete and Combinatorial Mathematics.

[30]  H. Witsenhausen Separation of estimation and control for discrete time systems , 1971 .

[31]  Marcello Colombino,et al.  Quadratic two-team games , 2015, 2015 54th IEEE Conference on Decision and Control (CDC).