Optimal byzantine resilient convergence in oblivious robot networks

Given a set of robots with arbitrary initial location and no agreement on a global coordinate system, convergence requires that all robots asymptotically approach the exact same, but unknown beforehand, location. Robots are oblivious-- they do not recall the past computations -- and are allowed to move in a one-dimensional space. Additionally, robots cannot communicate directly, instead they obtain system related information only via visual sensors. We draw a connection between the convergence problem in robot networks, and the distributed \emph{approximate agreement} problem (that requires correct processes to decide, for some constant $\epsilon$, values distance $\epsilon$ apart and within the range of initial proposed values). Surprisingly, even though specifications are similar, the convergence implementation in robot networks requires specific assumptions about synchrony and Byzantine resilience. In more details, we prove necessary and sufficient conditions for the convergence of mobile robots despite a subset of them being Byzantine (i.e. they can exhibit arbitrary behavior). Additionally, we propose a deterministic convergence algorithm for robot networks and analyze its correctness and complexity in various synchrony settings. The proposed algorithm tolerates f Byzantine robots for (2f+1)-sized robot networks in fully synchronous networks, (3f+1)-sized in semi-synchronous networks. These bounds are optimal for the class of cautious algorithms, which guarantee that correct robots always move inside the range of positions of the correct robots

Optimal deterministic ring exploration with oblivious asynchronous robots

We consider the problem of exploring an anonymous unoriented ring of size $n$ by $k$ identical, oblivious, asynchronous mobile robots, that are unable to communicate, yet have the ability to sense their environment and take decisions based on their local view. Previous works in this weak scenario prove that $k$ must not divide $n$ for a deterministic solution to exist. Also, it is known that the minimum number of robots (either deterministic or probabilistic) to explore a ring of size $n$ is 4. An upper bound of 17 robots holds in the deterministic case while 4 probabilistic robots are sufficient. In this paper, we close the complexity gap in the deterministic setting, by proving that no deterministic exploration is feasible with less than five robots whenever the size of the ring is even, and that five robots are sufficient for any $n$ that is coprime with five. Our protocol completes exploration in O(n) robot moves, which is also optimal

Dynamic FTSS in Asynchronous Systems: the Case of Unison

Distributed fault-tolerance can mask the effect of a limited number of permanent faults, while self-stabilization provides forward recovery after an arbitrary number of transient fault hit the system. FTSS protocols combine the best of both worlds since they are simultaneously fault-tolerant and self-stabilizing. To date, FTSS solutions either consider static (i.e. fixed point) tasks, or assume synchronous scheduling of the system components. In this paper, we present the first study of dynamic tasks in asynchronous systems, considering the unison problem as a benchmark. Unison can be seen as a local clock synchronization problem as neighbors must maintain digital clocks at most one time unit away from each other, and increment their own clock value infinitely often. We present many impossibility results for this difficult problem and propose a FTSS solution when the problem is solvable that exhibits optimal fault containment

Universal Loop-Free Super-Stabilization

We propose an univesal scheme to design loop-free and super-stabilizing protocols for constructing spanning trees optimizing any tree metrics (not only those that are isomorphic to a shortest path tree). Our scheme combines a novel super-stabilizing loop-free BFS with an existing self-stabilizing spanning tree that optimizes a given metric. The composition result preserves the best properties of both worlds: super-stabilization, loop-freedom, and optimization of the original metric without any stabilization time penalty. As case study we apply our composition mechanism to two well known metric-dependent spanning trees: the maximum-flow tree and the minimum degree spanning tree

RoboCast: Asynchronous Communication in Robot Networks

This paper introduces the \emph{RoboCast} communication abstraction. The RoboCast allows a swarm of non oblivious, anonymous robots that are only endowed with visibility sensors and do not share a common coordinate system, to asynchronously exchange information. We propose a generic framework that covers a large class of asynchronous communication algorithms and show how our framework can be used to implement fundamental building blocks in robot networks such as gathering or stigmergy. In more details, we propose a RoboCast algorithm that allows robots to broadcast their local coordinate systems to each others. Our algorithm is further refined with a local collision avoidance scheme. Then, using the RoboCast primitive, we propose algorithms for deterministic asynchronous gathering and binary information exchange

Stabilizing data-link over non-FIFO channels with optimal fault-resilience

Self-stabilizing systems have the ability to converge to a correct behavior when started in any configuration. Most of the work done so far in the self-stabilization area assumed either communication via shared memory or via FIFO channels. This paper is the first to lay the bases for the design of self-stabilizing message passing algorithms over unreliable non-FIFO channels. We propose a fault-send-deliver optimal stabilizing data-link layer that emulates a reliable FIFO communication channel over unreliable capacity bounded non-FIFO channels

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 $n$ states per process (where $n$ is the network size) and a recovery time of at least $n(n-1)/2$ 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 $\Delta + 1$ states per process and a recovery time of $\Omega(n)$ actions in total are required (where $\Delta$ denotes the maximal degree of the underlying simple undirected graph). We present a probabilistically self-stabilizing algorithm that uses $\mathtt{k}$ states per process, where $\mathtt{k}$ is a parameter of the algorithm. When $\mathtt{k}=\Delta+1$, the algorithm recovers in expected $O(\Delta n)$ actions. When $\mathtt{k}$ 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

Synthesis and Antileishmanial Activity of 1,2,4,5-Tetraoxanes against Leishmania donovani

A chemically diverse range of novel tetraoxanes was synthesized and evaluated in vitro against intramacrophage amastigote forms of Leishmania donovani. All 15 tested tetraoxanes displayed activity, with IC50 values ranging from 2 to 45 µm. The most active tetraoxane, compound LC140, exhibited an IC50 value of 2.52 ± 0.65 µm on L. donovani intramacrophage amastigotes, with a selectivity index of 13.5. This compound reduced the liver parasite burden of L. donovani-infected mice by 37% after an intraperitoneal treatment at 10 mg/kg/day for five consecutive days, whereas miltefosine, an antileishmanial drug in use, reduced it by 66%. These results provide a relevant basis for the development of further tetraoxanes as effective, safe, and cheap drugs against leishmaniasis.This research was funded by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT), and FEDER/COMPETE 2020-UE, through projects UID/Multi/04326/2019 (Centre of Marine Sciences-CCMAR) and PTDC/MAR-BIO/4132/2014.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio