Cellular evolutionary algorithm
A cellular evolutionary algorithm (cEA) is a kind of evolutionary algorithm (EA) in which individuals cannot mate arbitrarily, but every one interacts with its closer neighbors on which a basic EA is applied (selection, variation, replacement). The cellular model simulates natural evolution from the point of view ofthe individual, which encodes a tentative (optimization, learning, search) problem solution. The essential idea of this model is to provide the EA populationwith a special structure defined as a connected graph, in which each vertex is an individual who communicates with hisnearest neighbors. Particularly, individuals are conceptually set in a toroidalmesh, and are only allowed to recombine with close individuals. This leads usto a kind of locality known as isolation by distance. The set of potential matesof an individual is called its neighborhood. It is known that, in this kindof algorithm, similar individuals tend to cluster creating niches, and these groupsoperate as if they were separate sub-populations (islands). Anyway, there is noclear borderline between adjacent groups, and close niches could be easilycolonized by competitive niches and maybe merge solution contents during the process. Simultaneously,farther niches can be affected more slowly. (Wikipedia).
