Structure-based Clustering Algorithm for Model Reduction of Large-scale Network Systems

A model reduction technique is presented that identifies and aggregates clusters in a large-scale network system and yields a reduced model with tractable dimension. The network clustering problem is translated to a graph reduction problem, which is formulated as a minimization of distance from lumpability. The problem is a non-convex, mixed-integer optimization problem and only depends on the graph structure of the system. We provide a heuristic algorithm to identify clusters that are not only suboptimal but are also connected, that is, each cluster forms a connected induced subgraph in the network system.