Problem solving on one-bit-communication cellular automata

Abstract

In recent years, interest in cellular automata (CA) has been increasing in the field of modeling real phenomena that occur in biology, chemistry, ecology, economy, geology, mechanical engineering, medicine, physics, sociology, and public transportation. Cellular automata are considered to provide a good model of complex systems in which an infinite array of finite state machines (cells) updates itself in a synchronous manner according to a uniform local rule. In the present paper, we study a problem solving on a special subclass of cellular automata: one-bit inter-cell communication cellular automaton. The problems dealt with are a firing squad synchronization problem, an integer sequence generation problem, an early bird problem, and a connectivity recognition problem for two-dimensional binary images, all of which are classical, fundamental problems that have been studied extensively on O(1)-bit communication models of cellular automata. © 2010 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.