A probabilistic algorithm for updating files over a communication link

Abstract

Let P and Q be two parties on either side of a communication link. Assume that P has an old version of some file and wants to get a newer version from Q (who has it). Our algorithm performs this operation using poly( log|x|, log|y|,d(x,y), log(1/ε)) communication bits where x and y are old and new versions, d(x,y) is the number of editing operations needed to transform x into y, and ε is the error probability. The running time is poly(|x|,|y|, log(1/ε)) .