Detection of exclusive OR global predicates

Abstract

Detecting global predicates in a distributed program is a useful tool for debugging and testing the program. Past research has considered several restricted forms of predicates, including conjunctive predicates and linked predicates, and their detection algorithms. The authors introduce an exclusive OR global predicates to describe exclusive usages of shared resources in distributed programs. An exclusive OR global predicate holds for a given run only when one or zero local predicate is true at every consistent global state during the run. One exclusive OR global predicate is enough to describe the mutual exclusion condition of n processes, while it takes O(n/sup 2/) conjunctive predicates. Moreover, the exclusive OR condition is easily detectable by sequentializing all true events in a given run. A centralized algorithm of detecting exclusive OR global predicates is presented.