Abstract
This chapter is on sequential consistency, a consistency condition for distributed shared memory, which is weaker than atomicity (linearizability). After having defined sequential consistency, this chapter shows that it is not a local property. Then, it presents two theorems which are of fundamental importance when one has to implement sequential consistency on top of asynchronous message-passing systems. Finally, the chapter presents and proves correct several distributed algorithms that implement sequential consistency. Sequential consistency was introduced by L. Lamport (1979).
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
M. Ahamad, G. Neiger, J.E. Burns, P.W. Hutto, P. Kohli, Causal memory: definitions, implementation and programming. Distrib. Comput. 9, 37–49 (1995)
M. Ahamad, M. Raynal, G. Thia-Kime, An adaptive protocol for implementing causally consistent distributed services, in Proc. 18th Int’l Conference on Distributed Computing Systems (ICDCS’98) (IEEE Press, New York, 1998), pp. 86–93
H. Attiya, J.L. Welch, Sequential consistency versus linearizability. ACM Trans. Comput. Syst. 12(2), 91–122 (1994)
V. Cholvi, A. Fernández, E. Jiménez, P. Manzano, M. Raynal, A methodological construction of an efficient sequentially consistent distributed shared memory. Comput. J. 53(9), 1523–1534 (2010)
V.K. Garg, M. Raynal, Normality: a consistency condition for concurrent objects. Parallel Process. Lett. 9(1), 123–134 (1999)
K. Gharachorloo, P. Gibbons, Detecting violations of sequential consistency, in Proc. 3rd ACM Symposium on Parallel Algorithms and Architectures (SPAA’91) (ACM Press, New York, 1991), pp. 316–326
P. Hutto, M. Ahamad, Slow memory: weakening consistency to enhance concurrency in distributed shared memories, in Proc. 10th IEEE Int’l Conference on Distributed Computing Systems (ICDCS’90) (IEEE Press, New York, 1990), pp. 302–311
T. Ibaraki, T. Kameda, T. Minoura, Serializability with constraints. ACM Trans. Database Syst. 12(3), 429–452 (1987)
E. Jiménez, A. Fernández, V. Cholvi, A parameterized algorithm that implements sequential, causal, and cache memory consistencies. J. Syst. Softw. 81(1), 120–131 (2008)
P. Keleher, A.L. Cox, W. Zwaenepoel, Lazy release consistency for software distributed shared memory, in Proc. 19th ACM Int’l Symposium on Computer Architecture (ISCA’92), (1992), pp. 13–21
R. Kordale, M. Ahamad, A scalable technique for implementing multiple consistency levels for distributed objects, in Proc. 16th IEEE Int’l Conference on Distributed Computing Systems (ICDCS’96) (IEEE Press, New York, 1996), pp. 369–376
L. Lamport, How to make a multiprocessor computer that correctly executes multiprocess programs. IEEE Trans. Comput. C-28(9), 690–691 (1979)
R.J. Lipton, J.S. Sandberg, PRAM: a scalable shared memory. Tech Report CS-TR-180-88, Princeton University, 1988
M. Mizuno, M.L. Nielsen, M. Raynal, An optimistic protocol for a linearizable distributed shared memory service. Parallel Process. Lett. 6(2), 265–278 (1996)
M. Mizuno, M. Raynal, J.Z. Zhou, Sequential consistency in distributed systems, in Int’l Dagstuhl Workshop on the Theory and Practice in Distributed Systems. LNCS, vol. 938 (Springer, Berlin, 1994), pp. 224–241
M. Raynal, Sequential consistency as lazy linearizability, in Proc. 14th ACM Symposium on Parallel Algorithms and Architectures (SPAA’02) (ACM Press, New York, 2002), pp. 151–152
M. Raynal, Token-based sequential consistency. Comput. Syst. Sci. Eng. 17(6), 359–365 (2002)
M. Raynal, M. Ahamad, Exploiting write semantics in implementing partially replicated causal objects, in Proc. 6th EUROMICRO Conference on Parallel and Distributed Processing (PDP’98) (IEEE Press, New York, 1998), pp. 157–163
M. Raynal, M. Roy, C. Tutu, A simple protocol offering both atomic consistent read operations and sequentially consistent read operations, in Proc. 19th Int’l Conference on Advanced Information Networking and Applications (AINA’05) (IEEE Press, New York, 2005), pp. 961–966
M. Raynal, A. Schiper, From causal consistency to sequential consistency in shared memory systems, in Proc. 15th Int’l Conference on Foundations of Software Technology and Theoretical Computer Science (FST&TCS’95). LNCS, vol. 1026 (Springer, Berlin, 1995), pp. 180–194
M. Raynal, A. Schiper, A suite of formal definitions for consistency criteria in distributed shared memories, in Proc. 9th Int’l IEEE Conference on Parallel and Distributed Computing Systems (PDCS’96) (IEEE Press, New York, 1996), pp. 125–131
M. Raynal, K. Vidyasankar, A distributed implementation of sequential consistency with multi-object operations, in Proc. 24th IEEE Int’l Conference on Distributed Computing Systems (ICDCS’04) (IEEE Press, New York, 2004), pp. 544–551
R.N. Taylor, Complexity of analyzing the synchronization structure of concurrent programs. Acta Inform. 19(1), 57–84 (1983)
O. Theel, M. Raynal, Static and dynamic adaptation of transactional consistency, in Proc. 30th Hawaï, Int’l Conference on Systems Sciences (HICSS-30), vol. I (1997), pp. 533–542
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Raynal, M. (2013). Sequential Consistency. In: Distributed Algorithms for Message-Passing Systems. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-38123-2_17
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-38123-2_17
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-38122-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-38123-2
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)