The Power of Lights: Synchronizing Asynchronous Robots Using Visible Bits

S. Das, P. Flocchini, G. Prencipe, N. Santoro, M. Yamashita
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引用次数: 47

Abstract

In this paper we study the power of using lights, i.e. visible external memory, for distributed computation by autonomous robots moving in LookCompute-Move (LCM) cycles. With respect to the LCM cycles, the most common models studied in the literature are the fully-synchronous (FSYNC), the semisynchronous (SSYNC), and the asynchronous (ASYNC). In this paper we introduce in the ASYNC model, the weakest of the three, the availability of visible external memory: each robot is equipped with a light bulb that is visible to all other robots, and that can display a constant numbers of different colors; the colors are persistent, that is they are not automatically reset at the end of each cycle. We first study the relationship between ASYNC with visible bits and SSYNC. We prove hat asynchronous robots, when equipped with a constant number of colors, are strictly more powerful than traditional semisynchronous robots. We also show that, when enhanced with visible lights, the difference between asynchrony and semi-synchrony disappears; this result must be contrasted with the strict dominance ASYNC <;SSYNC between the models without lights. We then study the relationship between ASYNC with visible bits and FSYNC. We prove that asynchronous robots with a constant number of visible bits, if they can remember a single snapshot, are strictly more powerful than fully-synchronous robots. This is to be contrasted with the fact that, without lights, ASYNC robots are not even as powerful as SSYNC, even if they remember an unlimited number of previous snapshots. These results demonstrate the power of using visible external memory for distributed computation with autonomous robots. In particular, asynchrony can be overcome with the power of lights.
光的力量:使用可见比特同步异步机器人
在本文中,我们研究了在LookCompute-Move (LCM)周期中移动的自主机器人使用光(即可见外部存储器)进行分布式计算的能力。关于LCM周期,文献中研究的最常见的模型是全同步(FSYNC),半同步(SSYNC)和异步(ASYNC)。在本文中,我们在ASYNC模型中引入了三种模型中最弱的一种,即可见外部存储器的可用性:每个机器人都配备一个对所有其他机器人可见的灯泡,并且可以显示恒定数量的不同颜色;颜色是持久的,也就是说,它们不会在每个循环结束时自动重置。我们首先研究了带可见位的异步和SSYNC之间的关系。我们证明了异步机器人,当配备了一定数量的颜色时,严格地比传统的半同步机器人更强大。我们还表明,当用可见光增强时,异步和半同步之间的区别消失了;这一结果必须与没有光照的模型之间严格的ASYNC <;SSYNC优势形成对比。然后我们研究了带可见位的异步和FSYNC之间的关系。我们证明了具有恒定可见比特数的异步机器人,如果它们能够记住单个快照,则严格地比完全同步机器人更强大。与此形成对比的是,在没有光线的情况下,ASYNC机器人甚至不如SSYNC强大,即使它们记住了无限数量的先前快照。这些结果证明了在自主机器人中使用可见外部存储器进行分布式计算的能力。特别是,异步可以通过光的力量来克服。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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