58,253 research outputs found
Self-stabilizing tree algorithms
Designers of distributed algorithms have to contend with the problem of making the algorithms tolerant to several forms of coordination loss, primarily faulty initialization. The processes in a distributed system do not share a global memory and can only get a partial view of the global state. Transient failures in one part of the system may go unnoticed in other parts and thus cause the system to go into an illegal state. If the system were self-stabilizing, however, it is guaranteed that it will return to a legal state after a finite number of state transitions. This thesis presents and proves self-stabilizing algorithms for calculating tree metrics and for achieving mutual exclusion on a tree structured distributed system
Self-Stabilizing Wavelets and r-Hops Coordination
We introduce a simple tool called the wavelet (or, r-wavelet) scheme.
Wavelets deals with coordination among processes which are at most r hops away
of each other. We present a selfstabilizing solution for this scheme. Our
solution requires no underlying structure and works in arbritrary anonymous
networks, i.e., no process identifier is required. Moreover, our solution works
under any (even unfair) daemon. Next, we use the wavelet scheme to design
self-stabilizing layer clocks. We show that they provide an efficient device in
the design of local coordination problems at distance r, i.e., r-barrier
synchronization and r-local resource allocation (LRA) such as r-local mutual
exclusion (LME), r-group mutual exclusion (GME), and r-Reader/Writers. Some
solutions to the r-LRA problem (e.g., r-LME) also provide transformers to
transform algorithms written assuming any r-central daemon into algorithms
working with any distributed daemon
Automated Synthesis of Distributed Self-Stabilizing Protocols
In this paper, we introduce an SMT-based method that automatically
synthesizes a distributed self-stabilizing protocol from a given high-level
specification and network topology. Unlike existing approaches, where synthesis
algorithms require the explicit description of the set of legitimate states,
our technique only needs the temporal behavior of the protocol. We extend our
approach to synthesize ideal-stabilizing protocols, where every state is
legitimate. We also extend our technique to synthesize monotonic-stabilizing
protocols, where during recovery, each process can execute an most once one
action. Our proposed methods are fully implemented and we report successful
synthesis of well-known protocols such as Dijkstra's token ring, a
self-stabilizing version of Raymond's mutual exclusion algorithm,
ideal-stabilizing leader election and local mutual exclusion, as well as
monotonic-stabilizing maximal independent set and distributed Grundy coloring
The complexity of resolving conflicts on MAC
We consider the fundamental problem of multiple stations competing to
transmit on a multiple access channel (MAC). We are given stations out of
which at most are active and intend to transmit a message to other stations
using MAC. All stations are assumed to be synchronized according to a time
clock. If stations node transmit in the same round, then the MAC provides
the feedback whether , (collision occurred) or . When ,
then a single station is indeed able to successfully transmit a message, which
is received by all other nodes. For the above problem the active stations have
to schedule their transmissions so that they can singly, transmit their
messages on MAC, based only on the feedback received from the MAC in previous
round.
For the above problem it was shown in [Greenberg, Winograd, {\em A Lower
bound on the Time Needed in the Worst Case to Resolve Conflicts
Deterministically in Multiple Access Channels}, Journal of ACM 1985] that every
deterministic adaptive algorithm should take rounds
in the worst case. The fastest known deterministic adaptive algorithm requires
rounds. The gap between the upper and lower bound is
round. It is substantial for most values of : When constant and (for any constant , the lower bound is
respectively and O(n), which is trivial in both cases. Nevertheless,
the above lower bound is interesting indeed when poly(). In this
work, we present a novel counting argument to prove a tight lower bound of
rounds for all deterministic, adaptive algorithms, closing
this long standing open question.}Comment: Xerox internal report 27th July; 7 page
Is a friend in need a friend indeed? Inclusion and exclusion in mutual insurance networks in southern Ghana
Mutual insurance has been shown, theoretically and empirically, to be incomplete and limited by asymmetric information and lack of enforcement mechanisms. While some research has shown that networks based on kinship, neighborhood and ethnicity may provide a locus of insurance and thus a way of overcoming these problems, these studies are not fine enough to predict the inclusion and exclusion of individuals. Using data from rural Ghana, we examine the role of social relations in obtaining assistance in the face of shocks. We examine this at both the intra-household and community levels. At the household level, asking for and receiving assistance from the spouse is related to gender, the quality of the marital relationship, and the wealth of household members. At the community level, asking for and receiving help are correlated with membership in a major lineage, participation in secular organizations, the individualĀæs fostering history, and anticipated land inheritance. We also show that these factors differ depending on whether the shortfall was for a household or personal item (as perceived by the respondent). This work helps us to identify individuals who are more likely to fall outside of mutual insurance networks and require interventions to help them cope with ris
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