Two-Dimensional Patterns with Distinct Differences -- Constructions, Bounds, and Maximal Anticodes

TL;DR

This paper studies two-dimensional dot configurations with distinct differences in various grids, classifies maximal anticodes, and provides bounds and constructions relevant to applications like wireless sensor networks.

Contribution

It classifies maximal anticodes in different grids, establishes bounds on dot configurations, and addresses the existence of large honeycomb arrays, extending prior work.

Findings

Classified maximal anticodes for each diameter in square and hexagonal grids.

Provided upper bounds on the number of dots in configurations with distinct differences.

Disproved the existence of arbitrarily large honeycomb arrays.

Abstract

A two-dimensional grid with dots is called a \emph{configuration with distinct differences} if any two lines which connect two dots are distinct either in their length or in their slope. These configurations are known to have many applications such as radar, sonar, physical alignment, and time-position synchronization. Rather than restricting dots to lie in a square or rectangle, as previously studied, we restrict the maximum distance between dots of the configuration; the motivation for this is a new application of such configurations to key distribution in wireless sensor networks. We consider configurations in the hexagonal grid as well as in the traditional square grid, with distances measured both in the Euclidean metric, and in the Manhattan or hexagonal metrics. We note that these configurations are confined inside maximal anticodes in the corresponding grid. We classify maximal anticodes for each diameter in each grid. We present upper bounds on the number of dots in a pattern with distinct differences contained in these maximal anticodes. Our bounds settle (in the negative) a question of Golomb and Taylor on the existence of honeycomb arrays of arbitrarily large size. We present constructions and lower bounds on the number of dots in configurations with distinct differences contained in various two-dimensional shapes (such as anticodes) by considering periodic configurations with distinct differences in the square grid.