Related papers: A time and space optimal stable population protoco…
In this paper we consider a variant of population protocols in which agents are allowed to be connected by edges, known as the constructors model. During an interaction between two agents the relevant connecting edge can be formed,…
We study information aggregation in networks when agents interact to learn a binary state of the world. Initially each agent privately observes an independent signal which is "correct" with probability $\frac{1}{2}+\delta$ for some $\delta…
We consider the problem of efficiently simulating population protocols. In the population model, we are given a distributed system of $n$ agents modeled as identical finite-state machines. In each time step, a pair of agents is selected…
We consider the following distributed consensus problem: Each node in a complete communication network of size $n$ initially holds an \emph{opinion}, which is chosen arbitrarily from a finite set $\Sigma$. The system must converge toward a…
Population protocols (Angluin et al., PODC, 2004) are a formal model of sensor networks consisting of identical mobile devices. Two devices can interact and thereby change their states. Computations are infinite sequences of interactions…
Consider a complete communication network of $n$ nodes, where the nodes receive a common clock pulse. We study the synchronous $c$-counting problem: given any starting state and up to $f$ faulty nodes with arbitrary behaviour, the task is…
We analyze the convergence of the $k$-opinion Undecided State Dynamics (USD) in the population protocol model. For $k$=2 opinions it is well known that the USD reaches consensus with high probability within $O(n \log n)$ interactions.…
We study Plurality Consensus in the Gossip Model over a network of $n$ anonymous agents. Each agent supports an initial opinion or color. We assume that at the onset, the number of agents supporting the plurality color exceeds that of the…
Broadcast consensus protocols (BCPs) are a model of computation, in which anonymous, identical, finite-state agents compute by sending/receiving global broadcasts. BCPs are known to compute all number predicates in…
Over the years, population protocols with the goal of reaching consensus have been studied in great depth. However, many systems in the real-world do not result in all agents eventually reaching consensus, but rather in the opposite: they…
In their seminal work on the Stable Marriage Problem, Gale and Shapley describe an algorithm which finds a stable matching in $O(n^2)$ communication rounds. Their algorithm has a natural interpretation as a distributed algorithm where each…
In the advent of large-scale multi-hop wireless technologies, such as MANET, VANET, iThings, it is of utmost importance to devise efficient distributed protocols to maintain network architecture and provide basic communication tools. One of…
The NP-hard problem of task scheduling with communication delays (P|prec,c_{ij}|C_{\mathrm{max}}) is often tackled using approximate methods, but guarantees on the quality of these heuristic solutions are hard to come by. Optimal schedules…
The population control problem is a parameterised problem where a controller sends messages to a whole population of identical finite-state agents, aiming to eventually move them all into a target state. The decision problem asks whether…
Population protocols are a model of distributed computation in which an arbitrary number of indistinguishable finite-state agents interact in pairs to decide some property of their initial configuration. We investigate the behaviour of…
We revisit the classic problem of spreading a piece of information in a group of $n$ fully connected processors. By suitably adding a small dose of randomness to the protocol of Gasienic and Pelc (1996), we derive for the first time…
In the Contention Resolution problem $n$ parties each wish to have exclusive use of a shared resource for one unit of time. The problem has been studied since the early 1970s, under a variety of assumptions on feedback given to the parties,…
Computing with synthetically engineered bacteria is a vibrant and active field with numerous applications in bio-production, bio-sensing, and medicine. Motivated by the lack of robustness and by resource limitation inside single cells,…
Population protocols [Angluin et al., PODC, 2004] are a model of distributed computation in which indistinguishable, finite-state agents interact in pairs to decide if their initial configuration, i.e., the initial number of agents in each…
Population protocols are a model of computation in which an arbitrary number of indistinguishable finite-state agents interact in pairs. The goal of the agents is to decide by stable consensus whether their initial global configuration…