Synchronization of Networks of Non-Identical Chua's Circuits: Analysis and Experiments

This paper is concerned with the theoretical and ex- perimental analysis of synchronization and pinning control of net- works of non-identical Chua’s circuits. The design and implemen- tation is presented of an appropriate setup to carry out experi- ments on networks of these nonlinear circuits with easily recon- figurable parameter values. Then, the theoretical expectations are validated of the so-called Extended Master Stability Function ap- proach to study the onset of synchronization in the presence of real parameter mismatches between the circuits at the network nodes. The validation is carried out both numerically and experimentally. For the first time, the EMSF is also used to investigate pinning syn- chronization in a network of non-identical circuits where a master node (or pinner) is used to drive the network dynamics towards some desired synchronous evolution. The numerical and experi- mental results confirm the viability of the EMSF as an effective analysis and design tool.