How a SIMD machine can implement a complex cellular automata? a case study: von Neumann's 29-state cellular automaton
Jacqueline Signorini · 1989
This study is a part of an effort to simulate the 29-state self-reproducing cellular automaton described by John von Neumann in a manuscript that dates back to 1952. We are interested in the programming of very large SIMD arrays which, as a consequence of scaling them up, incorporate some features of cellular automata. Designing tools for programming them requires an experimental ground: considering that von Neumann's 29-state is the only known very large and complex cellular automaton, its simulation is a necessary first step. Embedded in a two-dimensional cellular array, using 29 states per cell and 5-cell neighborhood, this automaton exhibits the capabilities of universal computation and universal construction.