A Distributed Group k-Exclusion Algorithm using k-Write-Read Coteries

Abstract

In this paper, we introduce a novel quorum system, called k-write-read coterie to aid the design of the first group k-exclusion algorithm for the distributed system. A k-write-read coterie is an extension of both the write-read coterie and the k-coterie. It is a pair (W, R) of collections of sets (quorums), where W is a k-coterie and every quorum Q in W intersects every quorum P in R. We show how to construct k-write-read coteries with the help of torus structures and propose a distributed group k-exclusion algorithm using k-write-read coteries. The proposed algorithm has the merits of unbounded degree of concurrency and can accommodate unlimited number of resources. We prove the correctness of the proposed algorithm and analyze it in terms of message complexity and synchronization delay. The proposed algorithm has message complexity of 2|Q|+4 to 6n+2|Q∪P|+1 and synchronization delay of 3 to |Q∪P|+3, where n is the number of system nodes, Q∈W and P∈R.