Towards formal specification of a distributed computing system

Agrawal, VK and Patnaik, LM and Goel, PS (1985) Towards formal specification of a distributed computing system. In: International Journal of Computer & Information Sciences, 14 (5). pp. 277-306.

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Abstract

Onboard spacecraft computing system is a case of a functionally distributed system that requires continuous interaction among the nodes to control the operations at different nodes. A simple and reliable protocol is desired for such an application. This paper discusses a formal approach to specify the computing system with respect to some important issues encountered in the design and development of a protocol for the onboard distributed system. The issues considered in this paper are concurrency, exclusiveness and sequencing relationships among the various processes at different nodes. A 6-tuple model is developed for the precise specification of the system. The model also enables us to check the consistency of specification and deadlock caused due to improper specification. An example is given to illustrate the use of the proposed methodology for a typical spacecraft configuration. Although the theory is motivated by a specific application the same may be applied to other distributed computing system such as those encountered in process control industries, power plant control and other similar environments.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	International Journal of Computer & Information Sciences
Publisher:	Springer
Additional Information:	Copyright of this article belongs to Springer.
Keywords:	Distributed computing systems;protocol design;onboard computers;formal specification.
Department/Centre:	Division of Electrical Sciences > Computer Science & Automation
Date Deposited:	06 Feb 2010 09:17
Last Modified:	19 Sep 2010 05:36
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/21277

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