Abstract
Designers of network algorithms often give elegant informal descriptions of the intuition behind their algorithms (see [GHS83, Hum83, MeS79, Seg82, Seg83, ZeS80]). Usually these descriptions are structured as if subtasks are performed one after the other. Although these subtasks are performed sequentially from a logical point of view, they are performed concurrently from an operational point of view. The current paper presents a principle for formally designing and verifying these kinds of algorithms. It is formulated in Manna and Pnueli’s linear time temporal logic [MaP83, MaP92]. This principle is applicable to large classes of algorithms, such as those for computing minimum-paths, connectivity, network flow, and minimum-weight spanning trees.
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This is a short version of [StR94].
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Stomp, F.A., de Roever, WR. A Principle for Sequential Reasoning about Distributed Algorithms. Form Asp Comp 6, 716–737 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03259394
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03259394