Partially ordered distributed computations on asynchronous point-to-point networks

Asynchronous executions of a distributed algorithm differ from each other due to the nondeterminism in the order in which the messages exchanged are handled. In many situations of interest, the asynchronous executions induced by restricting nondeterminism are more efficient, in an application-specific sense, than the others. In this work, we define partially ordered executions of a distributed algorithm as the executions satisfying some restricted orders of their actions in two different frameworks, those of the so-called event- and pulse-driven computations. The aim of these restrictions is to characterize asynchronous executions that are likely to be more efficient for some important classes of applications. Also, an asynchronous algorithm that ensures the occurrence of partially ordered executions is given for each case. Two of the applications that we believe may benefit from the restricted nondeterminism are backtrack search, in the event-driven case, and iterative algorithms for systems of linear equations, in the pulse-driven case

Execution replay and debugging

As most parallel and distributed programs are internally non-deterministic -- consecutive runs with the same input might result in a different program flow -- vanilla cyclic debugging techniques as such are useless. In order to use cyclic debugging tools, we need a tool that records information about an execution so that it can be replayed for debugging. Because recording information interferes with the execution, we must limit the amount of information and keep the processing of the information fast. This paper contains a survey of existing execution replay techniques and tools.Comment: In M. Ducasse (ed), proceedings of the Fourth International Workshop on Automated Debugging (AADebug 2000), August 2000, Munich. cs.SE/001003

Communication Theoretic Data Analytics

Widespread use of the Internet and social networks invokes the generation of big data, which is proving to be useful in a number of applications. To deal with explosively growing amounts of data, data analytics has emerged as a critical technology related to computing, signal processing, and information networking. In this paper, a formalism is considered in which data is modeled as a generalized social network and communication theory and information theory are thereby extended to data analytics. First, the creation of an equalizer to optimize information transfer between two data variables is considered, and financial data is used to demonstrate the advantages. Then, an information coupling approach based on information geometry is applied for dimensionality reduction, with a pattern recognition example to illustrate the effectiveness. These initial trials suggest the potential of communication theoretic data analytics for a wide range of applications.Comment: Published in IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications, Jan. 201

Causal Boxes: Quantum Information-Processing Systems Closed under Composition

Complex information-processing systems, for example quantum circuits, cryptographic protocols, or multi-player games, are naturally described as networks composed of more basic information-processing systems. A modular analysis of such systems requires a mathematical model of systems that is closed under composition, i.e., a network of these objects is again an object of the same type. We propose such a model and call the corresponding systems causal boxes. Causal boxes capture superpositions of causal structures, e.g., messages sent by a causal box A can be in a superposition of different orders or in a superposition of being sent to box B and box C. Furthermore, causal boxes can model systems whose behavior depends on time. By instantiating the Abstract Cryptography framework with causal boxes, we obtain the first composable security framework that can handle arbitrary quantum protocols and relativistic protocols.Comment: 44+24 pages, 16 figures. v3: minor edits based on referee comments, matches published version up to layout. v2: definition of causality weakened, new reference

The ISIS project: Fault-tolerance in large distributed systems

The semi-annual status report covers activities of the ISIS project during the second half of 1989. The project had several independent objectives: (1) At the level of the ISIS Toolkit, ISIS release V2.0 was completed, containing bypass communication protocols. Performance of the system is greatly enhanced by this change, but the initial software release is limited in some respects. (2) The Meta project focused on the definition of the Lomita programming language for specifying rules that monitor sensors for conditions of interest and triggering appropriate reactions. This design was completed, and implementation of Lomita is underway on the Meta 2.0 platform. (3) The Deceit file system effort completed a prototype. It is planned to make Deceit available for use in two hospital information systems. (4) A long-haul communication subsystem project was completed and can be used as part of ISIS. This effort resulted in tools for linking ISIS systems on different LANs together over long-haul communications lines. (5) Magic Lantern, a graphical tool for building application monitoring and control interfaces, is included as part of the general ISIS releases