Distributed reactive machines

Abstract

We extend the reactive approach to distributed computing. Reactive systems allow one to use instantaneous broadcast events, which is a very powerful communication means between parallel components, in addition to implicit synchronization. Extension to distribution implies that instantaneous broadcast becomes available over the network between local reactive areas. We describe a model of distributed reactive systems, called synchronized systems, and several algorithms of detection of instant termination to implement distributed instantaneous broadcast. In the infrastructure we choose to implement systems which consist of distributed reactive machines connected to synchronizers. We present various implementations in Java, using SugarCubes, the RMI mechanism and another distributed processing environment.