Limitations of observer-based synchronization systems under information constraints (limited information capacity of the coupling channel) are evaluated. We give theoretical analysis for multidimensional drive-response systems represented in the Lurie form (linear part plus nonlinearity depending only on measurable outputs). It is shown that the upper bound of the limit synchronization error (LSE) is proportional to the upper bound of the transmission error. As a consequence, the upper and lower bounds of LSE are proportional to the maximum rate of the coupling signal and inversely proportional to the information transmission rate (channel capacity). Optimality of the binary coding for coders with one-step memory is established. The results are applied to synchronization of two chaotic Chua systems coupled via a channel with limited capacity.

• Received 7 November 2005

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.73.066209