Cellular automata are investigated towards their ability to compute
transductions, that is, to transform inputs into outputs. The families of
transductions computed are classified with regard to the time allowed to
process the input and to compute the output. Since there is a particular
interest in fast transductions, we mainly focus on the time complexities real
time and linear time. We first investigate the computational capabilities of
cellular automaton transducers by comparing them to iterative array
transducers, that is, we compare parallel input/output mode to sequential
input/output mode of massively parallel machines. By direct simulations, it
turns out that the parallel mode is not weaker than the sequential one.
Moreover, with regard to certain time complexities cellular automaton
transducers are even more powerful than iterative arrays. In the second part of
the paper, the model in question is compared with the sequential devices
single-valued finite state transducers and deterministic pushdown transducers.
It turns out that both models can be simulated by cellular automaton
transducers faster than by iterative array transducers.Comment: In Proceedings AUTOMATA&JAC 2012, arXiv:1208.249
