A new switched linear system model is proposed to describe the networked control system (NCS) with both network-induced delay and packet-dropout. A sufficient condition is derived for the exponential stability of the closed-loop NCS, and the obtained condition establishes the quantitative relation between the packet-dropout rate and the stability of the NCS. Design procedures for the state feedback stabilising controllers are also presented by using the augmenting technique. An illustrative example is provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.