In this paper, we study the question of how efficiently a collection of interconnected nodes can perform a global computation in the widely studied GOSSIP model of communication. In this model, nodes do not know the global topology of the network, and they may only initiate contact with a single neighbor in each round. This model contrasts with the much less restrictive LOCAL model, where a node may simultaneously communicate with all of its neighbors in a single round. A basic question in this setting is how many rounds of communication are required for the information dissemination problem, in which each node has some piece of information and is required to collect all others. In this paper, we give an algorithm that solves the information dissemination problem in at most @math rounds in a network of diameter @math , withno dependence on the conductance. This is at most an additive polylogarithmic factor from the trivial lower bound of @math , which applies even in the LOCAL model. In fact, we prove that something stronger is true: any algorithm that requires @math rounds in the LOCAL model can be simulated in @math rounds in the GOSSIP model. We thus prove that these two models of distributed computation are essentially equivalent.
The model of communication, where each node communicates with each of its neighbors in every round, was formalized by Peleg @cite_22 . Information spreading in this model requires a number of rounds which is equal to the diameter of the communication graph. Many other distributed tasks have been studied in this model, and below we mention a few in order to give a sense of the variety of problems studied. These include computing maximal independent sets @cite_5 , graph colorings @cite_27 , computing capacitated dominating sets @cite_24 , general covering and packing problems @cite_3 , and general techniques for distributed symmetry breaking @cite_26 .
@cite_26 @cite_22 @cite_3 @cite_24 @cite_27 @cite_5
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We introduce Multi-Trials, a new technique for symmetry breaking for distributed algorithms and apply it to various problems in general graphs. For instance, we present three randomized algorithms for distributed (vertex or edge) coloring improving on previous algorithms and showing a time color trade-off. To get a Δ+1 coloring takes time O(log Δ+ √ log n). To obtain an O(Δ+log1+1 log*nn) coloring takes time O(log* n). This is more than an exponential improvement in time for graphs of polylogarithmic degree. Our fastest algorithm works in constant time using O(Δlog(c) n+ log1+1 c n) colors, where c denotes an arbitrary constant and log(c ) n denotes the c times (recursively) applied logarithm ton. We also use the Multi-Trials technique to compute network decompositions and to compute maximal independent set (MIS), obtaining new results for several graph classes. Achieving a global goal based on local information is challenging, especially in complex and large-scale networks such as the Internet or even the human brain. In this paper, we provide an almost tight classification of the possible trade-off between the amount of local information and the quality of the global solution for general covering and packing problems. Specifically, we give a distributed algorithm using only small messages which obtains an (ρΔ)1 k-approximation for general covering and packing problems in time O(k2), where ρ depends on the LP's coefficients. If message size is unbounded, we present a second algorithm that achieves an O(n1 k) approximation in O(k) rounds. Finally, we prove that these algorithms are close to optimal by giving a lower bound on the approximability of packing problems given that each node has to base its decision on information from its k-neighborhood. We study local, distributed algorithms for the capacitated minimum dominating set (CapMDS) problem, which arises in various distributed network applications. Given a network graph G=(V,E), and a capacity cap(v)∈ℕ for each node v∈V, the CapMDS problem asks for a subset S⊆V of minimal cardinality, such that every network node not in S is covered by at least one neighbor in S, and every node v∈S covers at most cap(v) of its neighbors. We prove that in general graphs and even with uniform capacities, the problem is inherently non-local, i.e., every distributed algorithm achieving a non-trivial approximation ratio must have a time complexity that essentially grows linearly with the network diameter. On the other hand, if for some parameter e>0, capacities can be violated by a factor of 1+e, CapMDS becomes much more local. Particularly, based on a novel distributed randomized rounding technique, we present a distributed bi-criteria algorithm that achieves an O(log Δ)-approximation in time O(log 3 n+log (n) e), where n and Δ denote the number of nodes and the maximal degree in G, respectively. Finally, we prove that in geometric network graphs typically arising in wireless settings, the uniform problem can be approximated within a constant factor in logarithmic time, whereas the non-uniform problem remains entirely non-local. The distributed (Δ + 1)-coloring problem is one of most fundamental and well-studied problems in Distributed Algorithms. Starting with the work of Cole and Vishkin in 86, there was a long line of gradually improving algorithms published. The current state-of-the-art running time is O(Δ log Δ + log* n), due to Kuhn and Wattenhofer, PODC'06. Linial (FOCS'87) has proved a lower bound of 1 2 log* n for the problem, and Szegedy and Vishwanathan (STOC'93) provided a heuristic argument that shows that algorithms from a wide family of locally iterative algorithms are unlikely to achieve running time smaller than Θ(Δ log Δ). We present a deterministic (Δ + 1)-coloring distributed algorithm with running time O(Δ) + 1 2 log* n. We also present a tradeoff between the running time and the number of colors, and devise an O(Δ • t)-coloring algorithm with running time O(Δ t + log* n), for any parameter t, 1 We study the distributed maximal independent set (henceforth, MIS) problem on sparse graphs. Currently, there are known algorithms with a sublogarithmic running time for this problem on oriented trees and graphs of bounded degrees. We devise the first sublogarithmic algorithm for computing MIS on graphs of bounded arboricity. This is a large family of graphs that includes graphs of bounded degree, planar graphs, graphs of bounded genus, graphs of bounded treewidth, graphs that exclude a fixed minor, and many other graphs. We also devise efficient algorithms for coloring graphs from these families. These results are achieved by the following technique that may be of independent interest. Our algorithm starts with computing a certain graph-theoretic structure, called Nash-Williams forests-decomposition. Then this structure is used to compute the MIS or coloring. Our results demonstrate that this methodology is very powerful. Finally, we show nearly-tight lower bounds on the running time of any distributed algorithm for computing a forests-decomposition.