  In this paper, we address the problem of controlling a system over an
unreliable connection that is affected by time-varying delays and randomly
occurring packet losses. A novel sequence-based approach is proposed that
extends a given controller designed without consideration of the
network-induced disturbances. Its key idea is to model the unknown future
control inputs by random variables, the so-called virtual control inputs, which
are characterized by discrete probability density functions. Subject to this
probabilistic description, the actual sequence of future control inputs is
determined and transmitted to the actuator. The high performance of the
proposed approach is demonstrated by means of Monte Carlo simulation runs with
an inverted pendulum on a cart and by a detailed comparison to standard NCS
approaches.
