Practical finite-time synchronization of fractional-order networks under dead-zone outputs and application in secure communication

Wenxiang Fang, Quanxin Zhu and Zhaohai Ma

Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, 2026, vol. 210, issue P1

Abstract: This paper investigates the practical finite-time synchronization of fractional-order fuzzy neural networks subjected to output dead zones and quantization. To overcome the theoretical limitations of existing methods, we propose two major mathematical innovations: first, a novel class of fractional differential inequalities featuring a dual-power nonlinear structure (with exponents in (0,1] and [1,+∞)) is established, which accurately captures the complex multi-stage convergence dynamics of fractional-order systems ; second, an advanced residual set estimation method is proposed to break the inherent conservatism of traditional approaches, rigorously proving that the synchronization residual set can be designed to be arbitrarily small without a strictly positive lower bound. On the control front, an output-based quantized controller is synthesized to jointly compensate for dead-zone limits and quantization errors without relying on full-state measurements, significantly enhancing its engineering feasibility. Finally, the theoretical framework is innovatively applied to a chaotic secure communication scheme. By explicitly embedding physical hardware constraints into the cryptographic model, the proposed scheme guarantees robust plaintext recovery in practical networked environments, which is thoroughly validated by numerical simulations.

Keywords: Fractional-order systems; Finite-time stability; Residual set; Synchronization; Quantized control; Dead zone; Caputo fractional derivative (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:chsofr:v:210:y:2026:i:p1:s0960077926007691

DOI: 10.1016/j.chaos.2026.118628

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