An Improved Algorithm for Decentralized Extrema-Finding in Circular Configurations of Processes

Abstract

This note presents an improvement to LeLann's algorithm for finding the largest (or smallest) of a set of uniquely numbered processes arranged in a circle, in which no central controller exists and the number of processes is not known a priori. This decentralized algorithm uses a technique of selective message extinction in order to achieve an average number of message passes of order (n log n) rather than O(n2). © 1979, ACM. All rights reserved.