An approach to constructing modular fault-tolerant protocols

Abstract
Modularization is a well-known technique for simplify- ing complex software. Here, an approach to modularizing fault-tolerant protocols such as reliable multicast and me m- bership is described. The approach is based on implement- ing a protocol's individual properties as separate micro- protocols, and then combining selected micro-protocols using an event-driven software framework; a system is con- structed by composing these frameworks with traditional network protocols using standard hierarchical techniques . In addition to simplifying the software, this model helps clarify the dependencies among properties of fault-tolera nt protocols, and makes it possible to construct systems that are customized to the specifics of the application or under- lying architecture. An example involving reliable group multicast is given, together with a description of a proto- type implementation using the SR concurrent programming language. An implementation based on the x-kernel and RT-Mach is also underway.

This publication has 22 references indexed in Scilit: