Computing systems and methods are disclosed. In one embodiment, a technique is provided that includes receiving data representing at least in part a structure of interest; and processing the data in a processor-based machine to represent the data as a data structure including a plurality of contiguous data segments and at least one disjoint section, which separates two of the contiguous data segments. The technique includes processing the data structure based at least in part on the disjoint section(s) exhibiting ergodic behavior to determine at least one property of the structure.