12,707 research outputs found
How Many Cooks Spoil the Soup?
In this work, we study the following basic question: "How much parallelism
does a distributed task permit?" Our definition of parallelism (or symmetry)
here is not in terms of speed, but in terms of identical roles that processes
have at the same time in the execution. We initiate this study in population
protocols, a very simple model that not only allows for a straightforward
definition of what a role is, but also encloses the challenge of isolating the
properties that are due to the protocol from those that are due to the
adversary scheduler, who controls the interactions between the processes. We
(i) give a partial characterization of the set of predicates on input
assignments that can be stably computed with maximum symmetry, i.e.,
, where is the minimum multiplicity of a state in
the initial configuration, and (ii) we turn our attention to the remaining
predicates and prove a strong impossibility result for the parity predicate:
the inherent symmetry of any protocol that stably computes it is upper bounded
by a constant that depends on the size of the protocol.Comment: 19 page
Compact Deterministic Self-Stabilizing Leader Election: The Exponential Advantage of Being Talkative
This paper focuses on compact deterministic self-stabilizing solutions for
the leader election problem. When the protocol is required to be \emph{silent}
(i.e., when communication content remains fixed from some point in time during
any execution), there exists a lower bound of Omega(\log n) bits of memory per
node participating to the leader election (where n denotes the number of nodes
in the system). This lower bound holds even in rings. We present a new
deterministic (non-silent) self-stabilizing protocol for n-node rings that uses
only O(\log\log n) memory bits per node, and stabilizes in O(n\log^2 n) rounds.
Our protocol has several attractive features that make it suitable for
practical purposes. First, the communication model fits with the model used by
existing compilers for real networks. Second, the size of the ring (or any
upper bound on this size) needs not to be known by any node. Third, the node
identifiers can be of various sizes. Finally, no synchrony assumption, besides
a weakly fair scheduler, is assumed. Therefore, our result shows that, perhaps
surprisingly, trading silence for exponential improvement in term of memory
space does not come at a high cost regarding stabilization time or minimal
assumptions
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
A leader election algorithm for dynamic networks with causal clocks
An algorithm for electing a leader in an asynchronous network with dynamically changing communication topology is presented. The algorithm ensures that, no matter what pattern of topology changes occurs, if topology changes cease, then eventually every connected component contains a unique leader. The algorithm combines ideas from the Temporally Ordered Routing Algorithm for mobile ad hoc networks (Park and Corson in Proceedings of the 16th IEEE Conference on Computer Communications (INFOCOM), pp. 1405â1413 (1997) with a wave algorithm (Tel in Introduction to distributed algorithms, 2nd edn. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, MA, 2000), all within the framework of a height-based mechanism for reversing the logical direction of communication topology links (Gafni and Bertsekas in IEEE Trans Commun Câ29(1), 11â18 1981). Moreover, a generic representation of time is used, which can be implemented using totally-ordered values that preserve the causality of events, such as logical clocks and perfect clocks. A correctness proof for the algorithm is provided, and it is ensured that in certain well-behaved situations, a new leader is not elected unnecessarily, that is, the algorithm satisfies a stability condition.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (0500265)Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (ARP-00512-0007-2006)Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (ARP 000512-0130-2007)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (IIS-0712911)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (CNS-0540631)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Research Experience for Undergraduates (Program) (0649233)
Distributed Symmetry Breaking in Hypergraphs
Fundamental local symmetry breaking problems such as Maximal Independent Set
(MIS) and coloring have been recognized as important by the community, and
studied extensively in (standard) graphs. In particular, fast (i.e.,
logarithmic run time) randomized algorithms are well-established for MIS and
-coloring in both the LOCAL and CONGEST distributed computing
models. On the other hand, comparatively much less is known on the complexity
of distributed symmetry breaking in {\em hypergraphs}. In particular, a key
question is whether a fast (randomized) algorithm for MIS exists for
hypergraphs.
In this paper, we study the distributed complexity of symmetry breaking in
hypergraphs by presenting distributed randomized algorithms for a variety of
fundamental problems under a natural distributed computing model for
hypergraphs. We first show that MIS in hypergraphs (of arbitrary dimension) can
be solved in rounds ( is the number of nodes of the
hypergraph) in the LOCAL model. We then present a key result of this paper ---
an -round hypergraph MIS algorithm in
the CONGEST model where is the maximum node degree of the hypergraph
and is any arbitrarily small constant.
To demonstrate the usefulness of hypergraph MIS, we present applications of
our hypergraph algorithm to solving problems in (standard) graphs. In
particular, the hypergraph MIS yields fast distributed algorithms for the {\em
balanced minimal dominating set} problem (left open in Harris et al. [ICALP
2013]) and the {\em minimal connected dominating set problem}. We also present
distributed algorithms for coloring, maximal matching, and maximal clique in
hypergraphs.Comment: Changes from the previous version: More references adde
Bounds for self-stabilization in unidirectional networks
A distributed algorithm is self-stabilizing if after faults and attacks hit
the system and place it in some arbitrary global state, the systems recovers
from this catastrophic situation without external intervention in finite time.
Unidirectional networks preclude many common techniques in self-stabilization
from being used, such as preserving local predicates. In this paper, we
investigate the intrinsic complexity of achieving self-stabilization in
unidirectional networks, and focus on the classical vertex coloring problem.
When deterministic solutions are considered, we prove a lower bound of
states per process (where is the network size) and a recovery time of at
least actions in total. We present a deterministic algorithm with
matching upper bounds that performs in arbitrary graphs. When probabilistic
solutions are considered, we observe that at least states per
process and a recovery time of actions in total are required (where
denotes the maximal degree of the underlying simple undirected graph).
We present a probabilistically self-stabilizing algorithm that uses
states per process, where is a parameter of the
algorithm. When , the algorithm recovers in expected
actions. When may grow arbitrarily, the algorithm
recovers in expected O(n) actions in total. Thus, our algorithm can be made
optimal with respect to space or time complexity
Emergent velocity agreement in robot networks
In this paper we propose and prove correct a new self-stabilizing velocity
agreement (flocking) algorithm for oblivious and asynchronous robot networks.
Our algorithm allows a flock of uniform robots to follow a flock head emergent
during the computation whatever its direction in plane. Robots are
asynchronous, oblivious and do not share a common coordinate system. Our
solution includes three modules architectured as follows: creation of a common
coordinate system that also allows the emergence of a flock-head, setting up
the flock pattern and moving the flock. The novelty of our approach steams in
identifying the necessary conditions on the flock pattern placement and the
velocity of the flock-head (rotation, translation or speed) that allow the
flock to both follow the exact same head and to preserve the flock pattern.
Additionally, our system is self-healing and self-stabilizing. In the event of
the head leave (the leading robot disappears or is damaged and cannot be
recognized by the other robots) the flock agrees on another head and follows
the trajectory of the new head. Also, robots are oblivious (they do not recall
the result of their previous computations) and we make no assumption on their
initial position. The step complexity of our solution is O(n)
Symmetric and Synchronous Communication in Peer-to-Peer Networks
Motivated by distributed implementations of game-theoretical algorithms, we
study symmetric process systems and the problem of attaining common knowledge
between processes. We formalize our setting by defining a notion of
peer-to-peer networks(*) and appropriate symmetry concepts in the context of
Communicating Sequential Processes (CSP), due to the common knowledge creating
effects of its synchronous communication primitives. We then prove that CSP
with input and output guards makes common knowledge in symmetric peer-to-peer
networks possible, but not the restricted version which disallows output
statements in guards and is commonly implemented.
(*) Please note that we are not dealing with fashionable incarnations such as
file-sharing networks, but merely use this name for a mathematical notion of a
network consisting of directly connected peers "treated on an equal footing",
i.e. not having a client-server structure or otherwise pre-determined roles.)Comment: polished, modernized references; incorporated referee feedback from
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