Jump to content

Density Classification Task

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 24.13.248.234 (talk) at 00:48, 18 June 2006 ([[Cellular Automata]]). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

The Density Classification Task is the task in which the constituents of a Finite State Machine simultaneously assume the initial majority state given an initial random distribution of states.

One example of where the Density Classification Task can be seen is in a one-dimensional Cellular Automata model. Cells are randomly assigned a value of 0 or 1. If the majority of the cells are initially assigned 1, then the Density Classification Task has been completed when all cells have assumed a value of 1 (after a given number of generations). Inversely, if the majority of cells are initially assigned 0, then the task has been completed when all cells have assumed a value of 0. In a noisy environment (where there is a probability that two cells will miscommunicate, reporting a 1 instead of a 0 or vice versa), a simple majority rule will accomplish the task.

Applications

A Finite State Machine's ability to complete the Density Classification Task can be indicative of the interlinkage between its constituents.