16 research outputs found
Distributed anonymous function computation in information fusion and multiagent systems
We propose a model for deterministic distributed function computation by a
network of identical and anonymous nodes, with bounded computation and storage
capabilities that do not scale with the network size. Our goal is to
characterize the class of functions that can be computed within this model. In
our main result, we exhibit a class of non-computable functions, and prove that
every function outside this class can at least be approximated. The problem of
computing averages in a distributed manner plays a central role in our
development
Investigating the Cost of Anonymity on Dynamic Networks
In this paper we study the difficulty of counting nodes in a synchronous
dynamic network where nodes share the same identifier, they communicate by
using a broadcast with unlimited bandwidth and, at each synchronous round,
network topology may change. To count in such setting, it has been shown that
the presence of a leader is necessary. We focus on a particularly interesting
subset of dynamic networks, namely \textit{Persistent Distance} - PD, in which each node has a fixed distance from the leader across
rounds and such distance is at most . In these networks the dynamic diameter
is at most . We prove the number of rounds for counting in PD is at least logarithmic with respect to the network size .
Thanks to this result, we show that counting on any dynamic anonymous network
with constant w.r.t. takes at least
rounds where represents the additional cost to be
payed for handling anonymity. At the best of our knowledge this is the fist non
trivial, i.e. different from , lower bounds on counting in anonymous
interval connected networks with broadcast and unlimited bandwith
Computing on Anonymous Quantum Network
This paper considers distributed computing on an anonymous quantum network, a
network in which no party has a unique identifier and quantum communication and
computation are available. It is proved that the leader election problem can
exactly (i.e., without error in bounded time) be solved with at most the same
complexity up to a constant factor as that of exactly computing symmetric
functions (without intermediate measurements for a distributed and superposed
input), if the number of parties is given to every party. A corollary of this
result is a more efficient quantum leader election algorithm than existing
ones: the new quantum algorithm runs in O(n) rounds with bit complexity
O(mn^2), on an anonymous quantum network with n parties and m communication
links. Another corollary is the first quantum algorithm that exactly computes
any computable Boolean function with round complexity O(n) and with smaller bit
complexity than that of existing classical algorithms in the worst case over
all (computable) Boolean functions and network topologies. More generally, any
n-qubit state can be shared with that complexity on an anonymous quantum
network with n parties.Comment: 25 page
Distributed anonymous discrete function computation
We propose a model for deterministic distributed function computation by a
network of identical and anonymous nodes. In this model, each node has bounded
computation and storage capabilities that do not grow with the network size.
Furthermore, each node only knows its neighbors, not the entire graph. Our goal
is to characterize the class of functions that can be computed within this
model. In our main result, we provide a necessary condition for computability
which we show to be nearly sufficient, in the sense that every function that
satisfies this condition can at least be approximated. The problem of computing
suitably rounded averages in a distributed manner plays a central role in our
development; we provide an algorithm that solves it in time that grows
quadratically with the size of the network
Symmetric Synthesis
We study the problem of determining whether a given temporal specification can be implemented by a symmetric system, i.e., a system composed from identical components. Symmetry is an important goal in the design of distributed systems, because systems that are composed from identical components are easier to build and maintain. We show that for the class of rotation-symmetric architectures, i.e., multi-process architectures where all processes have access to all system inputs, but see different rotations of the inputs, the symmetric synthesis problem is EXPTIME-complete in the number of processes. In architectures where the processes do not have access to all input variables, the symmetric synthesis problem becomes undecidable, even in cases where the standard distributed synthesis problem is decidable
Non Trivial Computations in Anonymous Dynamic Networks
In this paper we consider a static set of anonymous processes, i.e., they do not have distinguished IDs, that communicate with neighbors using a local broadcast primitive. The communication graph changes at each computational round with the restriction of being always connected, i.e., the network topology guarantees 1-interval connectivity. In such setting non trivial computations, i.e., answering to a predicate like "there exists at least one process with initial input a?", are impossible. In a recent work, it has been conjectured that the impossibility holds even if a distinguished leader process is available within the computation. In this paper we prove that the conjecture is false. We show this result by implementing a deterministic leader-based terminating counting algorithm. In order to build our counting algorithm we first develop a counting technique that is time optimal on a family of dynamic graphs where each process has a fixed distance h from the leader and such distance does not change along rounds. Using this technique we build an algorithm that counts in anonymous 1-interval connected networks
The Complexity of the Distributed Constraint Satisfaction Problem
We study the complexity of the Distributed Constraint Satisfaction Problem
(DCSP) on a synchronous, anonymous network from a theoretical standpoint. In
this setting, variables and constraints are controlled by agents which
communicate with each other by sending messages through fixed communication
channels. Our results endorse the well-known fact from classical CSPs that the
complexity of fixed-template computational problems depends on the template's
invariance under certain operations. Specifically, we show that DCSP()
is polynomial-time tractable if and only if is invariant under
symmetric polymorphisms of all arities. Otherwise, there are no algorithms that
solve DCSP() in finite time. We also show that the same condition holds
for the search variant of DCSP. Collaterally, our results unveil a feature of
the processes' neighbourhood in a distributed network, its iterated degree,
which plays a major role in the analysis. We explore this notion establishing a
tight connection with the basic linear programming relaxation of a CSP.Comment: Full version of a STACS'21 pape