State space realization of bilinear continuous-time input0output equations

This paper studies the realizability property of continuous-time bilinear input-output (i/o) equations in the classical state space form. Constraints on the parameters of the bilinear i/o model are suggested that lead to realizable models. The paper proves that the 2nd order bilinear i/o differential equation, unlike the discrete-time case, is always realizable in the classical state space form. The complete list of 3rd and 4th order realizable i/o bilinear models is given and two subclasses of realizable i/o bilinear systems are suggested. Our conditions rely basically upon the property that certain combinations of coefficients of the i/o equations are zero or not zero. We provide explicit state equations for all realizable 2nd and 3rd order bilinear i/o equations, and for one realizable subclass of bilinear i/o equations of arbitrary order.