Abstract
The famous alternating bit protocol is an algorithm for transmitting a sequence of data through a so-called faulty channel, i.e. a channel that can lose or duplicate injected data. The established literature provides a wealth of treatments and plenty of a-posteriori correctness proofs of the protocol; derivations of the algorithm, however, are very rare. The prime purpose of this note is to provide such a derivation from first principles, using the theory of Owicki and Gries as the only tool for reasoning about parallel programs.
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Feijen, W.H.J., van Gasteren, A.J.M., Schieder, B. (1998). An elementary derivation of the alternating bit protocol. In: Jeuring, J. (eds) Mathematics of Program Construction. MPC 1998. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 1422. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/BFb0054290
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BFb0054290
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