Coordination of concurrent probabilistic processes

Abstract

A "process" is an entity which can be described by a nondeterministic Turing machine. Several processes are "concurrent" if they mutually provide inputs to one another. An algebraic model has been developed which facilitates the analysis of the collective behavior of several concurrent processes. (This has been applied to development, specification and analysis of communication protocols.)

Here, it is described how the probabilistic behavior of such systems can be studied using the same underlying algebraic model. A model of probabilistic behavior can be utilized to reduce the complexity of system analysis and to provide the means to calculate average elapsed time between events, as well as the means to calculate the probability that an event or series of events will occur. This is applied to study the continuous time stochastic behavior of asynchronous systems.