Wireless ad hoc lattice computers (WAdL)

We propose an architecture to harness the comparatively low computational power of geographically concentrated mobile devices (such as in a wireless ad hoc network, especially a sensor network) to build a wireless ad hoc lattice computer (WAdL). The primary contribution of the WAdL design is the ability to maintain, despite the mobility of the participating devices, a virtual lattice where the devices represent lattice points. WAdL is a cellular automaton-like architecture designed to carry out simulations of the unfolding of physical phenomena (e.g., fluid flow, system of moving, interacting objects, etc.) in the bounded region of Euclidean space represented by the underlying virtual lattice of WAdL. We present the design and algorithms of the WAdL architecture, and demonstrate its use with an example application (lift and drag on an airplane wing in flight) implemented on a simulated WAdL environment. We also discuss current issues and future directions of work on the WAdL architecture.