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A Timeout-Based Message Ordering Protocol for a Lightweight Software Implementation of TMR Systems

Lookup NU author(s): Dr Paul EzhilchelvanORCiD, Dr Neil Speirs

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Abstract

Replicated processing with majority voting is a well-known method for achieving reliability and availability. Triple Modular Redundant (TMR) processing is the most commonly used version of that method. Replicated processing requires that the replicas reach agreement on the order in which input requests are to be processed. Almost all synchronous and deterministic ordering protocols published in the literature are time-based in the sense that they require replicas' clocks to be kept synchronized within some known bound. We present a protocol for TMR systems that is based on timeouts and does not require clocks to be kept in bounded synchronism. Our design efforts focus on keeping the ordering delays small, without an unnecessary increase in message overhead. Consequently, we are able to show that no symmetric protocol that works only with unsynchronized clocks can provide a smaller worst-case delay. We also demonstrate through analysis and experiments that our protocol is faster than a time-based one of identical message complexity in certain situations which can prevail in many application settings.

Publication metadata

Author(s): Ezhilchelvan PD, Brasileiro FV, Speirs NA

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: IEEE Transactions on Parallel and Distributed Systems

Year: 2004

Volume: 15

Issue: 1

Pages: 53-65

Print publication date: 01/01/2004

Date deposited: 09/12/2010

ISSN (print): 1045-9219

ISSN (electronic): 1558-2183

Publisher: IEEE

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/TPDS.2004.1264786

DOI: 10.1109/TPDS.2004.1264786

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