Distributed Computing Through Combinatorial Topology - Softcover

Herlihy, Maurice; Kozlov, Dmitry; Rajsbaum, Sergio

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0124045782 ISBN 13: 9780124045781

Publisher: Morgan Kaufmann, 2013

Synopsis

Distributed Computing Through Combinatorial Topology describes techniques for analyzing distributed algorithms based on award winning combinatorial topology research. The authors present a solid theoretical foundation relevant to many real systems reliant on parallelism with unpredictable delays, such as multicore microprocessors, wireless networks, distributed systems, and Internet protocols.

Today, a new student or researcher must assemble a collection of scattered conference publications, which are typically terse and commonly use different notations and terminologies. This book provides a self-contained explanation of the mathematics to readers with computer science backgrounds, as well as explaining computer science concepts to readers with backgrounds in applied mathematics. The first section presents mathematical notions and models, including message passing and shared-memory systems, failures, and timing models. The next section presents core concepts in two chapters each: first, proving a simple result that lends itself to examples and pictures that will build up readers' intuition; then generalizing the concept to prove a more sophisticated result. The overall result weaves together and develops the basic concepts of the field, presenting them in a gradual and intuitively appealing way. The book's final section discusses advanced topics typically found in a graduate-level course for those who wish to explore further.

• Named a 2013 Notable Computer Book for Computing Methodologies by Computing Reviews
• Gathers knowledge otherwise spread across research and conference papers using consistent notations and a standard approach to facilitate understanding
• Presents unique insights applicable to multiple computing fields, including multicore microprocessors, wireless networks, distributed systems, and Internet protocols
• Synthesizes and distills material into a simple, unified presentation with examples, illustrations, and exercises

About this title

From the Back Cover

Distributed Computing Through Combinatorial Topology describes techniques for analyzing distributed algorithms for real systems reliant on parallelism with unpredictable delays, such as multicore microprocessors, wireless networks, distributed systems, and Internet protocols. The book offers a self-contained explanation of the mathematics to readers with computer science backgrounds, as well as explaining computer science concepts to readers with backgrounds in applied mathematics. Each concept is presented in two ways: first, proving a simple result that lends itself to examples to build up intuition; then generalizing the concept to prove a more sophisticated result. The overall result weaves together and develops the basic concepts of the field in a gradual and intuitively appealing way. The authors share mathematical notions and models for message-passing and shared-memory systems, based on award-winning combinatorial topology research.

About the Author

Maurice Herlihy received an A.B. in Mathematics from Harvard University, and a Ph.D. in Computer Science from M.I.T. He has served on the faculty of Carnegie Mellon University, on the staff of DEC Cambridge Research Lab, and is currently a Professor in the Computer Science Department at Brown University. Maurice Herlihy is an ACM Fellow, and is the recipient of the 2003 Dijkstra Prize in Distributed Computing. He shared the 2004 Gödel Prize with Nir Shavit, the highest award in theoretical computer science. In 2012 he shared the Edsger W. Dijkstra Prize In Distributed Computing with Nir Shavit.

Prof. Dmitry Kozlov is recipient of the Wallenberg Prize of the Swedish Mathematics Society (2003), the Gustafsson Prize of the Goran Gustafsson Foundation (2004), and the European Prize in Combinatorics (2005). He has been a Senior Lecturer at the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, and an Assistant Professor at ETH Zurich. Currently he holds the Chair of Algebra and Geometry at the University of Bremen, Germany. He is the author of the book Combinatorial Algebraic Topology published by Springer Verlag in 2008.

Prof. Sergio Rajsbaum is a member of the Institute of Mathematics at UNAM, where he is now a Full Professor. He has spent postdoctoral and sabbatical stays at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and HP Research Labs. His main research interests are in the theory of distributed computing, and has about 100 publications in prestigious conferences and journals, and has been Program Committee member, and Program Chair of main forums in the area, such as the ACM Principles of Distributed Computing.

Edition details

• Publisher: Morgan Kaufmann
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0124045782
• ISBN 13: 9780124045781
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 336