Abstract
THIS study of fault-tolerant parallel computation uses models of computation based on the parallel random access machine, or pram. The pram model is generally accepted as a convenient abstraction useful for defining and analyzing parallel algorithms. However it makes some assumptions that call into question its practicality. The main such assumptions are global synchronization of processors, high-bandwidth concurrent access to shared memory, and infallibility of processors, interconnections and memory. In this monograph we pursue the goal of preserving the high-level pram abstraction that makes it attractive for programming parallel algorithms, while narrowing the gap between prams and realizable parallel machines. Our primary focus is the removal of the assumption that the processors are failure-free. In some settings we also show how to relax the assumption of global synchrony and how to limit shared memory access concurrency in fault-tolerant algorithms while preserving their efficiency.
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Kanellakis, P.C., Shvartsman, A.A. (1997). Introduction. In: Fault-Tolerant Parallel Computation. The Springer International Series in Engineering and Computer Science, vol 401. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-5210-6_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-5210-6_1
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