Abstract
A biologically motivated computational model of wirelessly communicating self-reproducing mobile embodied automata — nanomachines — is defined. Their wireless communication mechanism is inspired by molecular communication. Thus, the automata are augmented by an input/output mechanism modelling sensation/production of the signal molecules and by a mechanism measuring their concentration. The communication, reproductive, concentration measuring, and time measuring “organs” of the automata represent their embodiment. The embodiment description is not a part of the model — its existence is merely postulated. The computational part of nanomachines is modelled by finite state automata. Orchestration of their actions is done via quorum sensing. That means that collective decisions are based on measuring the concentration of signal molecules produced and sensed by individual machines. The main result claims that in a closed environment with a high concentration of uniformly distributed signal molecules a system of such nanomachines can simulate any counter automaton with arbitrary small probability of error. By equipping the machines with an additional memory organ, the finite state control can be substituted by circuits of constant depth. In a real world such computational systems could be realized by genetically engineered bacteria or by artificial nanomachines produced by self-assembly.
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Wiedermann, J. (2011). Nanomachine Computing by Quorum Sensing. In: Kelemen, J., Kelemenová, A. (eds) Computation, Cooperation, and Life. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 6610. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-20000-7_17
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-20000-7_17
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