Buffer Centering for bittide Synchronization via Frame Rotation

Fuente: arXiv
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Autores principales: Lall, Sanjay, Spalink, Tammo
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2025
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author Lall, Sanjay
Spalink, Tammo
author_facet Lall, Sanjay
Spalink, Tammo
contents Maintaining consistent time in distributed systems is a fundamental challenge. The bittide system addresses this by providing logical synchronization through a decentralized control mechanism that observes local buffer occupancies and controls the frequency of an oscillator at each node. A critical aspect of bittide's stability and performance is ensuring that these elastic buffers operate around a desired equilibrium point, preventing data loss due to overflow or underflow. This paper introduces a novel method for centering buffer occupancies in a bittide network using a technique we term frame rotation. We propose a control strategy utilizing a directed spanning tree of the network graph. By adjusting the frequencies of nodes in a specific order dictated by this tree, and employing a pulsed feedback controller that targets the buffer occupancy of edges within the spanning tree, we prove that all elastic buffers in the network can be driven to their desired equilibrium. This ordered adjustment approach ensures that prior centering efforts are not disrupted, providing a robust mechanism for managing buffer occupancy in bittide synchronized systems.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2504_07044
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Buffer Centering for bittide Synchronization via Frame Rotation
Lall, Sanjay
Spalink, Tammo
Distributed, Parallel, and Cluster Computing
Maintaining consistent time in distributed systems is a fundamental challenge. The bittide system addresses this by providing logical synchronization through a decentralized control mechanism that observes local buffer occupancies and controls the frequency of an oscillator at each node. A critical aspect of bittide's stability and performance is ensuring that these elastic buffers operate around a desired equilibrium point, preventing data loss due to overflow or underflow. This paper introduces a novel method for centering buffer occupancies in a bittide network using a technique we term frame rotation. We propose a control strategy utilizing a directed spanning tree of the network graph. By adjusting the frequencies of nodes in a specific order dictated by this tree, and employing a pulsed feedback controller that targets the buffer occupancy of edges within the spanning tree, we prove that all elastic buffers in the network can be driven to their desired equilibrium. This ordered adjustment approach ensures that prior centering efforts are not disrupted, providing a robust mechanism for managing buffer occupancy in bittide synchronized systems.
title Buffer Centering for bittide Synchronization via Frame Rotation
topic Distributed, Parallel, and Cluster Computing
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.07044