Numerical Issues for Stochastic Automata Networks
Paulo Fernandes, Brigitte Plateau, William J. Stewart · 1996
In this paper we consider some numerical issues in computing solutions to networks of stochastic automata (SAN). In particular our concern is with keeping the amount of computation per iteration to a minimum, since iterative methods appear to be the most effective in determining numerical solutions. In a previous paper we presented complexity results concerning the vector-descriptor multiplication phase of the analysis. In this paper our concern is with implementation details. We experiment with the size and sparsity of individual automata; with the ordering of the automata; with the percentage and location of functional elements; with the occurrence of different types of synchronizing events and with the occurrence of cyclic dependencies within terms of the descriptor. We also consider the possible benefits of grouping automata in a SAN with many small automata, to create an equivalent SAN having a smaller number of larger automata. 1 Introduction The use of Stochastic Automata Netwo...