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Towards a Characterisation of Finite-State Message-Passing Systems

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Advances in Computing Science ASIAN 98 (ASIAN 1998)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 1538))

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Abstract

We investigate an automata-theoretic model of distributed systems which communicate via message-passing. Each node in the system is a finite-state device. Channels are assumed to be reliable but may deliver messages out of order. Hence, each channel is modelled as a set of counters, one for each type of message. These counters may not be tested for zero

Though each node in the network is finite-state, the overall system is potentially infinite-state because the counters are unbounded. We work in an interleaved setting where the interactions of the system with the environment are described as sequences. The behaviour of a system is described in terms of the language which it accepts—that is, the set of valid interactions with the environment that are permitted by the system

Our aim is to characterise the class of message-passing systems whose behaviour is finite-state. Our main result is that the language accepted by a message-passing system is regular if and only if both the language and its complement are accepted by message-passing systems. We also exhibit an alternative characterisation of regular message-passing languages in terms of deterministic automata

Partly supported by IFCPAR Project 1502-1.

Currently on leave at Department of Computer Science, State University of New York at Stony Brook, NY 11794-4400, USA.kumar@cs.sunysb.edu.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. SPIC Mathematical Institute, 92 G.N. Chetty Road, Madras, 600 017, India

    Madhavan Mukund & K. Narayan Kumar

  2. Computer Science Group, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Homi Bhabha Road, Bombay, 400 005, India

    Jaikumar Radhakrishnan

  3. Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, 400 076, India

    Milind Sohoni

Authors
  1. Madhavan Mukund
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  2. K. Narayan Kumar
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  3. Jaikumar Radhakrishnan
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  4. Milind Sohoni
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. College of Science and Technology, National Chi-Nan University, Puli, Nantou, Taiwan

    Jieh Hsiang

  2. Research Institute for Mathematical Sciences, Kyoto University, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8502, Japan

    Atsushi Ohori

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© 1998 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Mukund, M., Kumar, K.N., Radhakrishnan, J., Sohoni, M. (1998). Towards a Characterisation of Finite-State Message-Passing Systems. In: Hsiang, J., Ohori, A. (eds) Advances in Computing Science ASIAN 98. ASIAN 1998. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 1538. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-49366-2_21

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-49366-2_21

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-65388-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-49366-2

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