Universality and Emergent Computation in Cellular Neural Networks

One of the most exciting notions in research is that of a cellular computer, a natural information processing paradigm capable of modeling various biological, physical and social phenomena as well as other kinds of complex adaptive systems. Dogaru (Polytechnic U. of Bucharest) describes what is called "emergent computation" as a universal phenomena, describes cellular computing systems, and describes designing for emergence, which he describes as "essential." He examines cellular paradigms in theory and simulation, universal cells, the emergence of continuous-time systems in terms of reaction-diffusion cellular neural networks, emergence in discrete-time systems in terms of generalized cellular automata, and unconventional applications such as biometrics. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)