Communication protocols for fault-tolerant clock synchronization in not-completely connected networks

Abstract

Communications protocols for not-completely-connected networks are presented, and their cost is evaluated in terms of message exchanges. An efficient protocol tailored to convergence function clock synchronization is introduced. The number of messages used by this approach is equal to a proven lower bound on the number of messages and, hence, the approach is optimal. This protocol can be combined with a convergence function algorithm to achieve fault-tolerant clock synchronization in not-completely-connected networks at a far lower cost than previous approaches.<>