Distance agreement protocols

Abstract

A novel class of agreement protocols suitable for replicated nondeterministic processes is introduced. Reduction of message number and early stopping are achieved by taking distance decisions not after, but during protocol execution. Metrical comparison of results is not restricted to numerical applications. Unlike median selection, it covers multidimensional spaces and helps to solve typical problems of distributed systems, e.g., global scheduling, synchronization, sequence agreement, reconfiguration, and elimination of time skew. A so-called pendulum protocol is described in detail.<>