A new solution for the Byzantine generals problem

Abstract

We define a new model for algorithms to reach Byzantine Agreement. It allows one to measure the complexity more accurately, to differentiate between processor faults, and to include communication link failures. A deterministic algorithm is presented that exhibits early stopping by phase 2f + 3 in the worst case, where f is the actual number of faults, under less stringent conditions than the ones of previous algorithms. Its average performance can also easily be analysed making realistic assumptions on random distribution of faults. We show that it stops with high probability after a small number of phases.