37,897 research outputs found
Robust Leader Election in a Fast-Changing World
We consider the problem of electing a leader among nodes in a highly dynamic
network where the adversary has unbounded capacity to insert and remove nodes
(including the leader) from the network and change connectivity at will. We
present a randomized Las Vegas algorithm that (re)elects a leader in O(D\log n)
rounds with high probability, where D is a bound on the dynamic diameter of the
network and n is the maximum number of nodes in the network at any point in
time. We assume a model of broadcast-based communication where a node can send
only 1 message of O(\log n) bits per round and is not aware of the receivers in
advance. Thus, our results also apply to mobile wireless ad-hoc networks,
improving over the optimal (for deterministic algorithms) O(Dn) solution
presented at FOMC 2011. We show that our algorithm is optimal by proving that
any randomized Las Vegas algorithm takes at least omega(D\log n) rounds to
elect a leader with high probability, which shows that our algorithm yields the
best possible (up to constants) termination time.Comment: In Proceedings FOMC 2013, arXiv:1310.459
Reinvoking the past in the present: changing identities and appropriations of Joshua Nkomo in post-colonial Zimbabwe
This article discusses the histories, narratives and representations that have been produced by and on former ZAPU leader and Vice-President of Zimbabwe, Joshua Nkomo. We focus on the multiple identities and subject positions that Nkomo came to inhabit in the way in which he was represented in ZANU-PF’s discourse of the early 1980s; his self-representation in Nkomo’s 1984 autobiography Nkomo: the story of my life and subsequent appropriations of Nkomo by different political actors in the early 2000s. In line with Stuart Hall’s 1996 description, we consider identities not as essentialist and fixed categories but as positional, multiple, constantly evolving and constructed through difference. We argue that the changing identities of Nkomo served the purposes and interests of a variety of political actors, ranging from the ruling party ZANU-PF to the opposition MDC. Against the background of a mushrooming of popular historical narratives evidenced by both the publication and republishing of biographies, autobiographies and significant reports, and the serialisation and recirculation of these texts in newspapers and through websites, we also argue that the many uses and appropriations of Nkomo demonstrate the continued relevance of the past in the power struggles waged by different political actors in Zimbabwe
Storage and Search in Dynamic Peer-to-Peer Networks
We study robust and efficient distributed algorithms for searching, storing,
and maintaining data in dynamic Peer-to-Peer (P2P) networks. P2P networks are
highly dynamic networks that experience heavy node churn (i.e., nodes join and
leave the network continuously over time). Our goal is to guarantee, despite
high node churn rate, that a large number of nodes in the network can store,
retrieve, and maintain a large number of data items. Our main contributions are
fast randomized distributed algorithms that guarantee the above with high
probability (whp) even under high adversarial churn:
1. A randomized distributed search algorithm that (whp) guarantees that
searches from as many as nodes ( is the stable network size)
succeed in -rounds despite churn, for
any small constant , per round. We assume that the churn is
controlled by an oblivious adversary (that has complete knowledge and control
of what nodes join and leave and at what time, but is oblivious to the random
choices made by the algorithm).
2. A storage and maintenance algorithm that guarantees (whp) data items can
be efficiently stored (with only copies of each data item)
and maintained in a dynamic P2P network with churn rate up to
per round. Our search algorithm together with our
storage and maintenance algorithm guarantees that as many as nodes
can efficiently store, maintain, and search even under churn per round. Our algorithms require only polylogarithmic in bits to
be processed and sent (per round) by each node.
To the best of our knowledge, our algorithms are the first-known,
fully-distributed storage and search algorithms that provably work under highly
dynamic settings (i.e., high churn rates per step).Comment: to appear at SPAA 201
Stochastic Analysis of a Churn-Tolerant Structured Peer-to-Peer Scheme
We present and analyze a simple and general scheme to build a churn
(fault)-tolerant structured Peer-to-Peer (P2P) network. Our scheme shows how to
"convert" a static network into a dynamic distributed hash table(DHT)-based P2P
network such that all the good properties of the static network are guaranteed
with high probability (w.h.p). Applying our scheme to a cube-connected cycles
network, for example, yields a degree connected network, in which
every search succeeds in hops w.h.p., using messages,
where is the expected stable network size. Our scheme has an constant
storage overhead (the number of nodes responsible for servicing a data item)
and an overhead (messages and time) per insertion and essentially
no overhead for deletions. All these bounds are essentially optimal. While DHT
schemes with similar guarantees are already known in the literature, this work
is new in the following aspects:
(1) It presents a rigorous mathematical analysis of the scheme under a
general stochastic model of churn and shows the above guarantees;
(2) The theoretical analysis is complemented by a simulation-based analysis
that validates the asymptotic bounds even in moderately sized networks and also
studies performance under changing stable network size;
(3) The presented scheme seems especially suitable for maintaining dynamic
structures under churn efficiently. In particular, we show that a spanning tree
of low diameter can be efficiently maintained in constant time and logarithmic
number of messages per insertion or deletion w.h.p.
Keywords: P2P Network, DHT Scheme, Churn, Dynamic Spanning Tree, Stochastic
Analysis
A People's History Of Recent Urban Transportation Innovation
Who are the people leading the charge in urban transportation? As our report explains, the short answer is that it takes leaders from three different sectors of urban society to make change happen quickly.First, there needs to be a robust civic vanguard, the more diverse their range of skills and participation, the better. Second, mayors, commissioners and other city leaders need to create the mandate and champion the change. The third sector is the agency staff. When these three sectors align, relatively quick transformation is possible. Several cities, including New York and Pittsburgh, recently experienced this alignment of a healthy civic community, a visionary and bold mayor and transportation head, and internal agency champions. Our report also highlighted the potential of other cities, such as Charlotte, where the civic sector continues to build on and widen their base
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