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The alternator

Distributed Computing volume 20, pages 21–28 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

An alternator is an array of interacting processes that satisfy three conditions. First, if a process has an enabled action at some state, then no neighbor of that process has an enabled action at the same state. Second, along any concurrent execution, each action is executed infinitely often. Third, along any maximally concurrent execution, the alternator is stabilizing to states where the number of enabled actions is maximal. In this paper, we specify an alternator with arbitrary topology and verify its correctness. We also show that this alternator can be used in transforming any system that is stabilizing assuming serial execution, to one that is stabilizing assuming concurrent execution.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA

    Mohamed G. Gouda

  2. Texas State University–San Marcos, San Marcos, TX, USA

    F. Furman Haddix

Authors
  1. Mohamed G. Gouda
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  2. F. Furman Haddix
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Correspondence to Mohamed G. Gouda.

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Gouda, M.G., Haddix, F.F. The alternator. Distrib. Comput. 20, 21–28 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00446-007-0033-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00446-007-0033-1

Keywords

  • Self-stabilization
  • Distributed systems
  • System transformation
  • Serial execution
  • Concurrency