Deadlock Models and a General Algorithm for Distributed Deadlock Detection

Abstract

This paper deals with the problem of deadlock detection in asynchronous message passing systems in a system model that covers unspecified receptions and non-FIFO channels. It presents a hierarchy of deadlock models and deadlock detection problems. It abstracts deadlocks by a general deadlock model that has the same modeling power as the OR-AND model; however, it has much concise expressive power. An abstract general definition of deadlocks in distributed systems is presented that defines deadlocks independently of the underlying deadlock model. This formulation can be used to design a single distributed deadlock detection algorithm which uniformly addresses all deadlocks in the context of various request models such as AND, OR, AND-OR, and k-out-of-n requests. A simple generalized deadlock detection algorithm that uses a circulating token is presented to illustrate the concept. The algorithm is formally described and proven correct. Moreover, possible refinements of the basic solution concerning improvements of token routing and parallel implementation are outlined and evaluated. Extensions to individual and global termination issues are also addressed. Since the proposed deadlock detection algorithm is designed around the abstract definition of deadlocks, it has some very favorable features.