Application of the Newton Method to First-order
Implicit Fractional Transfer Function Approximation
Aleksei Tepljakov, Eduard Petlenkov, and Juri Belikov
Department of Computer Control
Tallinn University of Technology
Ehitajate tee 5, 19086, Tallinn, Estonia
{aleksei.tepljakov, eduard.petlenkov, juri.belikov}@dcc.ttu.ee
Abstract—In this paper, a method for approximating a first-
order implicit fractional transfer function, that corresponds to
a frequency-bounded fractional differentiator or integrator, is
presented. The proposed method is based on the well-known
Newton’s method for iterative root approximation. First-order
implicit fractional transfer functions have several applications
in modeling and control. This type of transfer function is the
basis for the fractional lead-lag compensator. In the following,
we provide the description of our algorithm, that enhances the
existing technique, and illustrate its use in modeling and control
with relevant comments.
Index Terms—fractional calculus, Newton’s method, Carlson’s
method, Matlab, implicit fractional transfer function, fractional
power zero-pole
I. INTRODUCTION
Today, fractional-order calculus is a rapidly evolving scien-
tific field. It allows for more accurate modeling of complex
systems, such as those that possess memory and hereditary
properties [1]. The benefits of using fractional calculus in
control are also evident. New types of controllers have been
developed [2], [3], [4] based on the added flexibility of the
fractional-order models.
However, many problems arise in the implementation of
fractional-order controllers. Since fractional models are inher-
ently complex, which follows from the fact that they describe
infinite-dimensional systems [5], deducing an effective direct
realization method is a difficult task. Therefore, methods for
approximating the fractional operators have been developed,
including both continuous and discrete approximations.
In this paper, we focus on one particular continuous
integer-order approximation, derived from Newton’s method.
In Section II the underlying method and its modification are
summarized and applications to fractional-order modeling are
presented. In Section III our method used for implicit first-
order fractional transfer function approximation is proposed
and discussed. Applications of this method to controller im-
plementation are also presented and a MATLAB realization
is described. Illustrative examples follow in Section IV. Some
issues and limitations of the proposed method are discussed
in Section V. Finally, conclusions are drawn in Section VI.
II. A
PPLICATION OF NEWTON’S METHOD TO FRACTIONAL
CALCULUS
Newton’s method, also known as Newton-Rhapson method
[6], is a numerical algorithm for finding a real root of a
function f(x). It suggests that in order to solve a general
nonlinear equation f(x)=0, the following iterative formula
can be used, given an initial estimate x
0
:
x
k+1
= x
k
−
f(x
k
)
f
(x
k
)
. (1)
A modified algorithm is proposed in [7], [8] such that the
convergence of the sequence {x
k
} is more rapid than that
resulting from using formula (1). The corresponding formula
is called Halley’s formula:
x
k+1
= x
k
−
f(x
k
)
f
(x
k
) −
f(x
k
)f
(x
k
)
2f
(x
k
)
. (2)
Consider now a problem of finding an nth root of a real
number. The corresponding function is f(x)=x
n
− A and
using (2) the following particular iteration formula is obtained:
x
k+1
= x
k
·
(n − 1)(x
k
)
n
+(n +1)A
(n +1)(x
k
)
n
+(n − 1)A
. (3)
This formula is considered by Carlson [9] and more recently
in [5], [10], [11]. In his paper, Carlson has shown, that this
formula holds for both even n =2m and odd n =2m +1
roots. The method can be applied to approximation of frac-
tional capacitors of the form (1/s)
1/n
in the following way:
G
k+1
(s)=G
k
(s)
(n − 1) (G
n
k
(s)) + (n +1)(H(s))
(n +1)(G
n
k
(s)) + (n − 1) (H(s))
, (4)
H(s)=
1
s
,G
0
(s)=1.
Since in this case the real variable A is replaced by the
transfer function H(s), convergence and rate of convergence
cannot be evaluated in the same way as in the case of a real-
valued function.
Consider now an example. Using equation (4) we shall
obtain an approximation of a fractional capacitor
5
1/s. With
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DESIGN
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, May 24-26, 2012, Warsaw, Poland
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