Bigraph


A bigraph can be modelled as the superposition of a graph and a set of trees.
Each node of the bigraph is part of a graph and also part of some tree that describes how the nodes are nested. Bigraphs can be conveniently and formally displayed as diagrams. They have applications in the modelling of distributed systems for ubiquitous computing and can be used to describe mobile interactions. They have also been used by Robin Milner in an attempt to subsume Calculus of Communicating Systems and π-calculus. They have been studied in the context of category theory.

Anatomy of a bigraph

Aside from nodes and edges, a bigraph may have associated with it one or more regions which are roots in the place forest, and zero or more holes in the place graph, into which other bigraph regions may be inserted. Similarly, to nodes we may assign controls that define identities and an arity. These controls are drawn from a bigraph signature. In the link graph we define inner and outer names, which define the connection points at which coincident names may be fused to form a single link.

Foundations

A bigraph is a 5-tuple:
where is a set of nodes, is a set of edges, is the control map that assigns controls to nodes, is the parent map that defines the nesting of nodes, and is the link map that defines the link structure.
The notation indicates that the bigraph has holes and a set of inner names and regions, with a set of outer names. These are respectively known as the inner and outer interfaces of the bigraph.
Formally speaking, each bigraph is an arrow in a symmetric partial monoidal category in which the objects are these interfaces. As a result, the composition of bigraphs is definable in terms of the composition of arrows in the category.

Extensions and variants

Bigraphs with sharing

Bigraphs with sharing are a generalisation of Milner's formalisation that allows for a straightforward representation of overlapping or intersecting spatial locations. In bigraphs with sharing, the place graph is defined as a directed acyclic graph, i.e. is a binary relation instead of a map. The definition of link graph is unaffected by the introduction of sharing. Note that standard bigraphs are a sub-class of bigraphs with sharing.
Areas of application of bigraphs with sharing include wireless networking protocols, real-time management of domestic wireless networks and mixed reality systems.

Implementations