A node count-independent logical clock for scaling lazy release consistency protocol

Abstract

The use of per processor vector logical clocks in lazy release consistency (LRC) protocol implementation may restrict its scalability since the size of these clocks depends on the number of nodes of the system. We propose a new logical clock, the barrier-lock, whose concept is based on the causality of synchronization operations. Its size is proportional to the number of synchronization variables used by the application, being not affected by the number of nodes of the system. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 1999.