Arbitrary waveform generator biologically inspired

•A system biologically inspired that produces arbitrary analog signals is studied.•The proposed system is based in the BVAM biological model.•The system is analyzed with a discrete equivalent system defined by a Poincaré map.•The operation regimes of the system are identified changing the control parameter.•The system functionality is shown by the simulations obtained from SIMULINK™.

This work shows and analyzes a system that produces arbitrary waveforms, which is a simplification, based on spatial discretization, of the BVAM model proposed by Barrio et al. in 1999 [1] to model the biological pattern formation. Since the analytical treatment of non-linear terms of this system is often prohibitive, its dynamic has been analyzed using a discrete equivalent system defined by a Poincaré map. In this analysis, the bifurcation diagrams and the Lyapunov exponent are the tools used to identify the different operating regimes of the system and to provide evidence of the periodicity and randomness of the generated waveforms. Also, it is shown that the analyzed system presents the period doubling phenomenon, the values of its bifurcation points are related by the Feigenbaum constant and they converge to the onset of chaos. It is shown that, the analyzed system can be electronically implemented using operational amplifiers to produce arbitrary waveforms when varying a single control parameter. The functionality and behavior of the ideal electronic implementation of the analyzed system is shown by the simulations obtained from the MatLab–Simulink™ toolbox. Finally, some problems related to a real electronic implementation are discussed. This paper gives a brief overview of how ideas from biology can be used to design new systems that produce arbitrary waveforms.