Invited Address I

Abstract

In this paper we present a proof outline of the sequential consistency the lazy caching protocol of Afek, Brown, and Merritt. We will follow a strategy of stepwise refinement, developing the distributed caching memory in five transformation steps from a specification of the serial memory, whilst preserving the sequential consistency in each step. What we present, in fact, is a rationalized design of the distributed caching memory. We will use a simple process-algebraic formalism for the specification of the various design stages. We will not follow a strictly algebraic exposition, however. At some points the correctness will follow using direct semantic arguments, and we will also employ higher-order constructs like action transducers to relate behaviours. The distribution of the design/proof over five transformation steps provides a good insight into the variations that could have been allowed at each point of the design while still maintaining sequential consistency. The design/proof in fact establishes the correctness of a whole family of related memory architectures. The factorization in smaller steps also allows for a closer analysis of the fairness assumptions about the distributed memory.KeywordsBehaviour ExpressionLabel Transition SystemLocal CacheProcess DefinitionSequential ConsistencyThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.