Election and Local Computations on Edges

International audienceThe point of departure and the motivation for this paper are the results of Angluin [1] which has introduced a tool to analyze the election algorithm: the coverings, Yamashita and Kameda [21] and Mazurkiewicz [15] which have obtained characterizations of graphs in which election is possible under two different models of distributed computations. Our aim is twofold. First it is to obtain characterizations of graphs in which election is possible under intermediate models between the models of Yamashita-Kameda and of Mazurkiewicz. Our second aim is to understand the implications of the models for the borderline between positive and negative results for distributed computations. In this work, characterizations are obtained under three different models

A Bridge Between the Asynchronous Message Passing Model and Local Computations in Graphs

International audienceA distributed system is a collection of processes that can interact. Three major process interaction models in distributed systems have principally been considered: - the message passing model, - the shared memory model, - the local computation model. In each model the processes are represented by vertices of a graph and the interactions are represented by edges. In the message passing model and the shared memory model, processes interact by communication primitives: messages can be sent along edges or atomic read/write operations can be performed on registers associated with edges. In the local computation model interactions are defined by labelled graph rewriting rules; supports of rules are edges or stars. These models (and their sub-models) reflect different system architectures, different levels of synchronization and different levels of abstraction. Understanding the power of various models, the role of structural network properties and the role of the initial knowledge enhances our understanding of basic distributed algorithms. This is done with some typical problems in distributed computing: election, naming, spanning tree construction, termination detection, network topology recognition, consensus, mutual exclusion. Furthermore, solutions to these problems constitute primitive building blocks for many other distributed algorithms. A survey may be found in [FR03], this survey presents some links with several parameters of the models including synchrony, communication media and randomization. An important goal in the study of these models is to understand some relationships between them. This paper is a contribution to this goal; more precisely we establish a bridge between tools and results presented in [YK96] for the message passing model and tools and results presented in [Ang80, BCG+96, Maz97, CM04, CMZ04, Cha05] for the local computation mode

Leader Election for Anonymous Asynchronous Agents in Arbitrary Networks

We study the problem of leader election among mobile agents operating in an arbitrary network modeled as an undirected graph. Nodes of the network are unlabeled and all agents are identical. Hence the only way to elect a leader among agents is by exploiting asymmetries in their initial positions in the graph. Agents do not know the graph or their positions in it, hence they must gain this knowledge by navigating in the graph and share it with other agents to accomplish leader election. This can be done using meetings of agents, which is difficult because of their asynchronous nature: an adversary has total control over the speed of agents. When can a leader be elected in this adversarial scenario and how to do it? We give a complete answer to this question by characterizing all initial configurations for which leader election is possible and by constructing an algorithm that accomplishes leader election for all configurations for which this can be done

Une étude formelle de la théorie des calculs locaux à l'aide de l'assistant de preuve Coq

L'objectif de cette thèse est de produire un environnement permettant de raisonner formellement sur la correction de systèmes de calculs locaux, ainsi que sur l'expressivité de ce modèle de calcul. Pour ce faire, nous utilisons l'assistant de preuve Coq. Notre première contribution est la formalisation en Coq de la sémantique des systèmes de réétiquetage localement engendrés, ou calculs locaux. Un système de calculs locaux est un système de réétiquetage de graphe dont la portée est limitée. Nous proposons donc tout d'abord une implantation succincte de la théorie des graphes en Coq, et utilisons cette dernière pour définir les systèmes de réétiquetage de graphes localement engendrés. Nous avons relevé, dans la définition usuelle des calculs locaux, certaines ambiguïtés. Nous proposons donc une nouvelle définition, et montrons formellement que celle-ci capture toutes les sous-classes d'algorithmes étudiées. Nous esquissons enfin une méthodologie de preuve des systèmes de calculs locaux en Coq.Notre seconde contribution consiste en l'étude formelle de l'expressivité des systèmes de calculs locaux. Nous formalisons un résultat de D. Angluin (repris par la suite par Y. Métivier et J. Chalopin): l'inexistence d'un algorithme d'élection universelle. Nous proposons ensuite deux lemmes originaux concernant les calculs locaux sur les arêtes (ou systèmes LC0), et utilisons ceux-ci pour produire des preuves formelles d'impossibilité pour plusieurs problèmes: calcul du degré de chaque sommet, calcul d'arbre recouvrant, etélection. Nous proposons informellement une nouvelles classes de graphe pour laquelle l'élection est irréalisable par des calculs locaux sur les arêtes.Nous étudions ensuite les transformations de systèmes de calculs locaux et de leur preuves. Nous adaptons le concept de Forward Simulation de N. Lynch aux systèmes de calculs locaux et utilisons ce dernier pour démontrer formellement l'inclusion de deux modes de détection de terminaison dans le cas des systèmes LC0. La preuve de cette inclusion estsimplifiée par l'utilisation de transformations "standards" de systèmes, pour lesquels des résultats génériques ont été démontrés. Finalement, nous réutilisons ces transformations standards pour étudier, en collaboration avec M. Tounsi, deux techniques de composition des systèmes de réétiquetage LC0. Une bibliothèque Coq d'environ 50000 lignes, contenant les preuves formelles des théorèmes présentés dans le mémoire de thèse à été produite en collaboration avec Pierre Castéran (dont environ 40%produit en propre par V. Filou) au cours de cette thèse.The goal of this work is to build a framework allowing the study, in aformal setting, of the correctness of local computations systems aswell as the expressivity of this model. A local computation system isa set of graph relabelling rules with limited scope, corresponding to a class of distributed algorithms.Our first contribution is the formalisation, in the Coq proofassistant, of a relationnal semantic for local computation systems.This work is based on an original formal graph theory for Coq.Ambiguities inherent to a "pen and paper" definition of local computations are corrected, and we prove that our definition captures all sub-classes of relabelling relations studied in the remainder. We propose a draft of a proof methodology for local computation systems in Coq. Our second contribution is the study of the expressivity of classes of local computations inside our framework. We provide,for instance, a formal proof of D. Angluin results on election and graph coverings. We propose original "meta-theorems" concerningthe LC0 class of local computation, and use these theorem to produce formal impossibility proofs.Finally we study possible transformations of local computation systemsand of their proofs. To this end, we adapt the notion of ForwardSimulation, originally formulated by N. Lynch, to localcomputations. We use this notion to define certified transformationsof LC0 systems. We show how those certified transformation can be useto study the expressivity of certain class of algorithm in ourframework. We define, as certified transformation, two notions ofcomposition for LC0 systems.A Coq library of ~ 50000 lines of code, containing the formal proofs of the theorems presented in the thesis has been produced in collaboration with Pierre Castéran.BORDEAUX1-Bib.electronique (335229901) / SudocSudocFranceF

Algorithmique distribuée, calculs locaux et homomorphismes de graphes

Dans cette thèse, on étudie ce qui est calculable dans différents modèles d’algorithmique distribuée. Les modèles considérés correspondent à différents niveaux d’abstraction et à différents niveaux de synchronisation entre les processus d’un système distribué. On s’intéresse en particulier au problèmes de l’élection et du nommage dans ces différents modèles. Pour chaque modèle, on caractérise les systèmes distribués dans lesquels on peut résoudre ces problèmes et on étudie la complexité des problèmes de décision correspondants. Nos caractérisations utilisent des homomorphismes de graphes qui préservent certaines propriétés locales. Nos preuves sont constructives : quand on peut résoudre l’élection (ou le nommage) dans un réseau, on présente un algorithme d’élection (ou de nommage) pour ce réseau. Ces problèmes permettent de mettre en évidence les différences entre les puissances de calculs des différents modèles considérés. De plus, l’étude de ces problèmes permet de mettre à jour les bons outils qui permettent d’étudier ce qui est calculable de manière distribuée dans les différents modèles.In this thesis, we consider different models of distributed computations. These models correspond to different levels of abstraction and they encode different levels of synchronization between processes in a distributed system. In these different models, we particularly focus on two classical problems in distributed computing : election and naming. For each model, we present a characterization of distributed systems where these problems can be solved and we study the complexity of the corresponding decision problems. Our characterizations are expressed in terms of graph homomorphisms that preserve some local properties. Our proofs are constructive : when a network admits an election (or a naming) algorithm, we present such an algorithm for this network. These problems enable to highlight the differences between the computation powers of the different models we consider. Moreover, studying these problems enable to introduce some combinatorial and algorithmic tools that can be used to study what can be computed in a distributed way in these different models