An Algorithm for Bootstrapping Communications

I present an algorithm which allows two agents to generate a simple language based only on observations of a shared environment. Vocabulary and roles for the language are learned in linear time. Communication is robust and degrades gradually as complexity increases. Dissimilar modes of experience will lead to a shared kernel vocabulary

A Robust Amorphous Hierarchy from Persistent Nodes

For a very large network deployed in space with only nearby nodes able to talk to each other, we want to do tasks like robust routing and data storage. One way to organize the network is via a hierarchy, but hierarchies often have a few critical nodes whose death can disrupt organization over long distances. I address this with a system of distributed aggregates called Persistent Nodes, such that spatially local failures disrupt the hierarchy in an area proportional to the diameter of the failure. I describe and analyze this system, which has been implemented in simulation

Near-Optimal Distributed Failure Circumscription

Small failures should only disrupt a small part of a network. One way to do this is by marking the surrounding area as untrustworthy --- circumscribing the failure. This can be done with a distributed algorithm using hierarchical clustering and neighbor relations, and the resulting circumscription is near-optimal for convex failures

Persistent Nodes for Reliable Memory in Geographically Local Networks

A Persistent Node is a redundant distributed mechanism for storing a key/value pair reliably in a geographically local network. In this paper, I develop a method of establishing Persistent Nodes in an amorphous matrix. I address issues of construction, usage, atomicity guarantees and reliability in the face of stopping failures. Applications include routing, congestion control, and data storage in gigascale networks

Leaderless Distributed Hierarchy Formation

I present a system for robust leaderless organization of an amorphous network into hierarchical clusters. This system, which assumes that nodes are spatially embedded and can only talk to neighbors within a given radius, scales to networks of arbitrary size and converges rapidly. The amount of data stored at each node is logarithmic in the diameter of the network, and the hierarchical structure produces an addressing scheme such that there is an invertible relation between distance and address for any pair of nodes. The system adapts automatically to stopping failures, network partition, and reorganization

Generating Communications Systems Through Shared Context

In a distributed model of intelligence, peer components need to communicate with one another. I present a system which enables two agents connected by a thick twisted bundle of wires to bootstrap a simple communication system from observations of a shared environment. The agents learn a large vocabulary of symbols, as well as inflections on those symbols which allow thematic role-frames to be transmitted. Language acquisition time is rapid and linear in the number of symbols and inflections. The final communication system is robust and performance degrades gradually in the face of problems

Amorphous Medium Language

Programming reliable behavior on a large mesh network composed of unreliable parts is difficult. Amorphous Medium Language addresses this problem by abstracting robustness and networking issues away from the programmer via language of geometric primitives and homeostasis maintenance.AML is designed to operate on a high diameter network composed of thousands to billions of nodes, and does not assume coordinate, naming, or routing services. Computational processes are distributed through geometric regions of the space approximated by the network and specify behavior in terms of homeostasis conditions and actions to betaken when homeostasis is violated.AML programs are compiled for local execution using previously developed amorphous computing primitives which provide robustness against ongoing failures and joins and localize the impact of changes in topology. I show some examples of how AML allows complex robust behavior to be expressed in simple programs and some preliminary results from simulation

What the Assassin's Guild Taught Me About Distributed Computing

Distributed computing and live-action roleplaying share many of thesame fundamental problems, as live-action roleplaying games commonly include simulations carried out by their players.Games run by the MIT Assassin's Guild are particularly illustrative ofdistributed computing issues due to their large scope and highcomplexity.I discuss three distributed computing issues addressed by Assassin'sGuild game design---information hiding, error correction, andliveness/consistency tradeoffs---and the relevance of the solutionsused by game writers to current problems in distributed computing

Developmental Cost for Models of Intelligence

We can evaluate models of natural intelligence, as well as theirindividual components, by using a model of hardware and developmentcosts, ignoring almost all the details of biology. The basic argumentis that neither the gross anatomy of the brain nor the behavior ofindividual cells nor the behavior of the whole poses sufficientconstraint on the algorithms that might run within the brain, but thatthe process of engineering an intelligence under this cost model posessimilar challenges to those faced by a human growing from a singlecell to an adult. This will allow us to explore architectural ideasfreely, yet retain confidence that when a system works, the principlesallowing it to work are likely to be similar to those that allow humanintelligence to work

Leveraging Learning and Language Via Communication Bootstrapping

In a Communication Bootstrapping system, peer components with different perceptual worlds invent symbols and syntax based on correlations between their percepts. I propose that Communication Bootstrapping can also be used to acquire functional definitions of words and causal reasoning knowledge. I illustrate this point with several examples, then sketch the architecture of a system in progress which attempts to execute this task