The wireless synchronization problem

In this paper, we study the wireless synchronization problem which requires devices activated at different times on a congested single-hop radio network to synchronize their round numbering. We assume a collection of n synchronous devices with access to a shared band of the radio spectrum, divided into F narrowband frequencies. We assume that the communication medium suffers from unpredictable, perhaps even malicious interference, which we model by an adversary that can disrupt up to t frequencies per round. Devices begin executing in different rounds and the exact number of participants is not known in advance. We first prove a lower bound, demonstrating that at least Ω “ log2 n (F−t) log log n + Ft F−t log n ” rounds are needed to synchronize. We then describe two algorithms. The first algorithm almost matches the lower bound, yielding a running time of O “ F F−t log2 n + Ft F−t log n ” rounds. The second algorithm is adaptive, terminating in O ` t log3 n ´ r...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2009
• Where: PODC
• Authors: Shlomi Dolev, Seth Gilbert, Rachid Guerraoui, Fabian Kuhn, Calvin C. Newport
• Keywords: Computer Science, Ft F−t Log, NSF Award Number, PODC 2009, first Algorithm