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Fig. 7.2 Scheme of the formation of the sequence of the signal inverter using amorphous
computing methods, (a)-(f) sequences of stages
of the neighboring particles within the radius of communication. Switching is
initiated by signals (radio, chemical), which are sent by the growing point. This
process is expected to be stepwise, with the switching wave propagating across the
field of particles, if no limits are imposed on its propagation.
The biological notion of tropism is introduced as such a restriction extending the
capabilities of GPL. It involves directed interaction of the waves initiated by
growing points. Let us consider a couple of examples. Suppose that there are two
growing points at some distance from each other and initiating switching waves.
We will assume that the wave emanating from point
B
can switch only those
particles not affected by the wave
A
. Then the propagation of the wave
A
inhibits
the propagation of the wave
B
. As a second example, consider the situation when
the wave
B
can only be switched by the particles located near
A
. In this case, the
wave
B
behaves as if it were attracted to the point
A
. In a general case, by analogy
with biological phenomena, one can introduce the notion of pheromones that are
emitted by each growing point, with the concentration monotonically decreasing
with distance from the growing point. Pheromone concentration determines the
degree of tropism, i.e., the repulsive force from this growing point or attraction to
it. In the GPL language a growing point in its active state lays material and releases
pheromones. In fact, both of these processes are implemented by switching the state
of the neighboring point, i.e., by specifying its new parameters.
Let us return to our example—the creation of the signal inverter with the circuit
shown in Fig.
7.1
. Its schematic diagram based on the elements that are formed in an
amorphous medium is shown in the same figure. Formation of the inverter is carried
out over several stages, as the main elements of the device are created by the
particles of the same type. These stages are shown in Fig.
7.2
. In order to illustrate
the main features of GPL, consider a program of the first stages of the formation of
the inverter (Fig.
7.2a-c
):
