An effective "on-line" deadlock detection technique for distributed data base management systems

A graph-theoretic model is used to represent the process interactions in DDBMS. From this model a general deadlock detection algorithm is derived, with the important feature of significantly reducing the communication requirements that usually follow the invocation of a deadlock detection mechanism. The idea of "on-line" detection of deadlocks in DDBMS is introduced, and an effective algorithm is presented which detects deadlocks without further delay, at the time of making the data resource allocation decision at the concerned installation. Problems and drawbacks involved in earlier attempts to handle deadlocks in distributed DBMS are provided. Several highlights of our proposals are emphasized, and further possibilities of research are identified.