Functional observers with linear error dynamics for discrete-time nonlinear systems, with application to fault diagnosis

This work deals with the problem of designing observers for the estimation of a single function of the states for discrete-time nonlinear systems. Necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of lower order functional observers with linear dynamics and linear output map are derived. The results provide a direct generalization to Luenberger's linear theory of functional observers. The design methodology is tested on a non-isothermal CSTR case study.