Feedback for nonlinear system identification

Motivated by neuronal models from neuroscience, we consider the system identification of simple feedback structures whose behaviors include nonlinear phenomena such as excitability, limit-cycles and chaos. We show that output feedback is sufficient to solve the identification problem in a two-step procedure. First, the nonlinear static characteristic of the system is extracted, and second, using a feedback linearizing law, a mildly nonlinear system with an approximately-finite memory is identified. In an ideal setting, the second step boils down to the identification of a LTI system. To illustrate the method in a realistic setting, we present numerical simulations of the identification of two classical systems that fit the assumed model structure.
Comment: 18th European Control Conference (ECC), Napoli, Italy, June 25-28 2019