Small-gain stability conditions for linear systems with time-varying delays

In this paper we show that a variety of stability conditions, both existing and new, can be derived for linear systems subject to time-varying delays in a unified manner in the form of scaled small-gain conditions. From a robust control perspective, our development seeks to cast the stability problem as one of robust stability analysis, and the resulting stability conditions are also reminiscent of robust stability bounds typically found in robust control theory. The development is built on the well-known conventional robust stability analysis, requiring essentially no more than a straightforward application of the small gain theorem. The derived conditions have conceptual appeal, and they can be checked using standard robust control toolboxes.