Evolvable hardware for fault-tolerant applications
César Ortega, A.M. Tyrrell · 1998
Introduction When a system (natural or man-made) reaches a certain level of complexity, it becomes very difficult to grasp all of its underlying dynamics, and therefore, it becomes less controllable and less reliable [1]. However, the needs of the modern individual are fulfilled using extremely complex systems. What would our society be without computers, satellites, medicines, mega-software and free market? Complex systems are the foundation of our lifestyle but they have become very difficult to design. Nature offers to us some remarkable examples of how to deal with complexity and its associated unreliability. For example, the human body is possibly one of the most complex systems ever known. Failures are not rare, but the overall function is highly reliable because of the self-diagnosis and self-healing mechanisms that work ceaselessly throughout our bodies [2]. This mechanisms are the result of millions of years of our gene s evolution. Evolving instead of designing seems t