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Distributed Algorithms as Combinatorial Structures

Published: 09 March 2015 Publication History

Abstract

For many distributed computing problems there exists a characterizing combinatorial structure. In other words, the existence of an algorithm for solving the problem on any graph G in time T(G) implies the existence of the structure in G with some parameter related to T(G), and vice versa. Such relations go back to classic examples, such as synchronizers and sparse spanners, and continue to emerge in recent studies of gossip algorithms and multicast algorithms in different communication settings. In this article, we give an overview of both old and recent results that illustrate these connections. We discuss how finding distributed algorithms as well as proving lower bounds can be reduced to studying combinatorial graph structures.

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Published In

cover image ACM SIGACT News
ACM SIGACT News  Volume 46, Issue 1
March 2015
69 pages
ISSN:0163-5700
DOI:10.1145/2744447
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Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 09 March 2015
Published in SIGACT Volume 46, Issue 1

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