Survey of Membership Agreement Protocols

Report, 2005

Research, into the problem of membership agreement, has been going on for approximately the last 30 years, with still much activity. The goal of this paper is to give an overview of some work that has been done in the area in the context of the author’s research efforts. Membership agreement is used to achieve a consistent view of a group of entities. The “view” is whether each entity is functioning or not. Via the membership agreement correct nodes (members of the group) may then adapt themselves to the situation, e.g. use a certain control algorithm most suitable for the current situation.