Process synchronization: design and performance evaluation of distributed algorithms

The author presents a simple solution for the committee coordination problem, which encompasses the synchronization and exclusion problems associated with implementing multiway rendezvous, and shows how it can be implemented to develop a family of algorithms. The algorithms use message counts to solve the synchronization problem, and they solve the exclusion problem by using a circulating token or by using auxiliary resources as in the solutions for the dining or drinking philosophers' problems. Results of a simulation study of the performance of the algorithms are presented. The experiments measured the response time and message complexity of each algorithm as a function of variations in the model parameters, including network topology and level of conflict in the system. The results show that the response time for algorithms proposed is significantly better than for existing algorithms, whereas the message complexity is considerably worse.<
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