Aggregation protocols in light of reliable communication

Abstract

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Aggregation protocols allow for distributed lightweight computations deployed on ad-hoc networks in a peer-to-peer fashion. Due to reliance on wireless technology, the communication medium is often hostile which makes such protocols susceptible to correctness and performance issues. In this paper, we study the behavior of aggregation protocols when subject to communication failures: message loss, duplication, and network partitions. We show that resolving communication failures at the communication layer, through a simple reliable communication layer, reduces the overhead of using alternative fault tolerance techniques at upper layers, and also preserves the original accuracy and simplicity of protocols. The empirical study we drive shows that tradeoffs exist across various aggregation protocols, and there is no one-size-fits-all protocol.