Call for Papers: Spatial Computing Workshop 2012 @ AAMAS 2012

in conjunction with the 11th International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems (AAMAS 2012) Valencia, Spain, June 2012

Organizers

Jacob Beal (BBN Technologies, USA) Stefan Dulman (Delft University, the Netherlands), Jean-Louis Giavitto (CNRS & IRCAM, France) Antoine Spicher (University Paris-Est Creteil, France)

Important Dates

Submission deadline: March 4, 2012 Acceptance notification: March 27, 2012 Camera-ready papers: April 10, 2012

Overview

Many self-organizing or self-adaptive multiagent systems are spatial computers – collections of local computational devices distributed through a physical space, in which: - the difficulty of moving information between any two devices is 

strongly dependent on the distance between them;

- the “functional goals” of the system are generally defined in terms 

of the system’s spatial structure.

In multiagent systems, spatial relationships (location, region, frontier, neighborhood, obstruction, field, basin, communication, diffusion, propagation) are used to organize the interactions between agents where their location is important for the problem. Systems that can be viewed as spatial computers are abundant, both natural and man-made. For example, in wireless sensor networks and animal or robot swarms, inter-agent communication network topologies are determined by the distance between devices, while the agent collectives as a whole solve spatially-defined problems like “analyze and react to spatial temperature variance” or “surround and destroy an enemy”. In biological embryos, each developing cell’s behavior is controlled only by its local chemical and physical environment, but the eventual structure of the organism is a global property of the cellular arrangement. Moreover, a variety of successful established techniques for self-organization and self-adaptation arise from explicitly spatial metaphors, e.g., self-healing gradients.

On the other hand, not all spatially distributed systems are spatial computers. The Internet and peer-to-peer overlay networks may not in general best be considered as spatial computers, both because their communication graphs have little relation to the Euclidean geometry in which the participating devices are embedded, and because most applications for them are explicitly defined independent of network structure. Spatial computers, in contrast, tend to have more structure, with specific constraints and capabilities that can be used in the design and analysis of algorithms.

The goal of this workshop is to explicitly identify the idea of spatial computing as a theme in multi agent systems and in self-organizing and self-adaptive systems, and further to develop the study of spatial computation as a subject in its own right. We believe that progress towards identifying common principles, techniques, and research directions – and consolidating the substantial progress that is already being made – will benefit all of the fields in which spatial computing takes place. And, as the impact of spatial computing is recognized in many areas, we hope to set up frameworks to ensure portability and cross-fertilization between solutions in the various domains.

We are soliciting submissions on any aspect of spatial computing. Examples of topics of interest include, but are by no means limited to: - Languages for programming spatial computers and describing spatial 

tasks and patterns;

- Methods for compiling global programs to local rules that produce 

the desired global effect;

- Relationships between agent interaction and spatial organizations; - Theoretical and practical limitations arising from spatial 

properties;

- Characterization of spatial self-organization phenomena as 

algorithmic building blocks;

- Characterization of error in spatial computers (e.g., error from 

approximating continuous space with networks of devices);

- Analysis of tradeoffs between system parameters (e.g., communication 

radius vs. device memory consumption);

- Studies of the relationship between time, propagation of information 

through the spatial computer, and computational complexity;

- Application of spatial computing principles to novel areas, or 

generalization of area-specific techniques;

- Device motion in spatial computing algorithms (e.g. the relationship 

between robot speed and gradient accuracy in multi-robot swarms);

- Theoretical and empirical analysis of spatial applications.

Format, Submission and Publication

We encourage authors to submit papers in one of two formats: (1) Papers that develop “unifying” principles or techniques in spatial 

  computing – these papers should be suitable in format and quality  
  for a conference track, but avoid incrementalism;

(2) Papers that demonstrate how a technique or problem from a specific 

  area of application can usefully be generalized – these papers    
  should be a combination of review paper and position paper, 
  presenting the material from one area in a form comprehensible to 
  researchers of another area, as well as a coherent technical 
  argument generalizing the material to other areas.

Although our interests are broad, we discourage authors from submitting reviews of particular application areas unless the paper explicitly connects the material to the larger technical issues of spatial computing.

Workshop pre-proceedings will be published in a bundle with the main conference proceedings. Post-proceedings publication in a journal is planed. Papers should be no longer than 6 pages in the standard “IEEE Transaction” two-column format:

http://www.ieee.org/web/publications/authors/transjnl/index.html

All manuscripts should be submitted in PDF form with the EasyChair submissions system at: https://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=scw2012.

For more information, refer to the workshop web site: http://scw12.spatial-computing.org

Questions should be addresses to: scw12@spatial-computing.org


Personal Tools