Positive systems are an important class of systems that frequently arise in application areas, such as in the chemical process industry, electronic circuit design, communication networks, and biology. The study of the stability of such systems differs from standard systems in that the analysis focuses only on the trajectories generated under positivity constraints. Switched positive systems also arise in a variety of applications. Examples can be found in TCP congestion control, in processes described by non-homogeneous Markov chains, in image processing, in biochemical networks, and so on. In comparison to general switched systems, that have received a lot of attention in the past years, the theory for positive switched systems is still in its infancy.

Switched Positive Linear Systems studies the stability, performance evaluation, stabilization via switching control, and optimal control of (continuous-time and linear) positive switched systems. It provides a review of the results that have already been established in the literature. Other results, especially those related to norm computation and optimization, are new and are presented integrated with previous ones.

This book provides a comprehensive and timely introduction to the study of such systems. Readers who are new to the topic will find everything required to understand such systems in a concise and accessible form.