On Synchronization of Coupled Hopf-Kuramoto Oscillators with Phase Delays

This paper presents new methods and results on almost global synchronization of coupled Hopf nonlinear oscillators, which are commonly used as the dynamic model of engineered central pattern generators (CPGs). On balanced graphs, any positive coupling gain is proven to induce almost global asymptotic synchronization, and a threshold value for truly global exponential synchronization is also computed. Furthermore, a hierarchical connection between coupled Hopf oscillators and Kuramoto oscillators is identified. Finally, a new result on the synchronization of Kuramoto oscillators with arbitrary time-varying heterogeneous frequencies and delays is derived.