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Improved bounds for electing a leader in a synchronous ring

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Abstract

We consider the problem of electing a leader in synchronous rings of unknown size. We present a tradeoff betweentime andbits where the bit complexity is alwaysindependent of the entities values and the time is alwayslinear in the smallest entity value. We also show how to elect a leader in exactly θ(n)bits, thus matching the same bit complexity achievable whenn is known, with a time complexitypolynomial in the smallest entity values. Both results are achieved using a novel technique,double waiting, and improve significantly on the existing bounds.

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Communicated by J.-D. Boissonnat.

This research was supported in part by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

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Overmars, M., Santoro, N. Improved bounds for electing a leader in a synchronous ring. Algorithmica 18, 246–262 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02526036

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02526036

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