Abstract
A language for describing finite and infinite networks of loosely coupled, concurrent, nondeterministic, communicating agents is introduced. To every program a finite or infinite graph (“network”) is related representing graphically the communication structure of the described system. A denotational semantics is defined based on fixed point theory. Algebraic laws for the networks are studied that allow to transform them without changing their denotational meaning. Following the increasing complexity of denotational models for stream-processing networks a hierarchy of five languages is treated: first a language of finite, deterministic networks, then infinite (i.e., recursively defined), deterministic ones, then nondeterministic finite and nondeterministic infinite networks with free choice merge. Finally we study a language including fair, nonstrict merge.
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Manfred Broy finished his studies with the Diplom in Mathematics and Computer Science at the Technical University of Munich. Till 1983 he was research and teaching assistant at the Institut für Informatik and the Sonderforschungsbereich 49 «Programmiertechnik». At the Technical University of Munich he also did his Ph.D. (in February 1980 with the subject: «Transformation parallel ablaufender Programme») and qualified as an university lecturer (in 1982 with the subject: «A Theory for Nondeterminism, Parallelism. Communication and Concurrency»). March 1982 he spent as a Visiting Professor at the University Paris Sud. Since April 1983 he has been Full Professor for Computer Science at the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science at the University of Passau. His fields of interest are: Programming languages, program development and distributed systems.
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Broy, M. Semantics of finite and infinite networks of concurrent communicating agents. Distrib Comput 2, 13–31 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01786252
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01786252