Timetide: A programming model for logically synchronous distributed systems

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Kenwright, Logan, Roop, Partha, Allen, Nathan, Caşcaval, Călin, Malik, Avinash
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Kenwright, Logan
Roop, Partha
Allen, Nathan
Caşcaval, Călin
Malik, Avinash
author_facet Kenwright, Logan
Roop, Partha
Allen, Nathan
Caşcaval, Călin
Malik, Avinash
contents Massive strides in deterministic models have been made using synchronous languages. They are mainly focused on centralised applications, as the traditional approach is to compile away the concurrency. Time triggered languages such as Giotto and Lingua Franca are suitable for distribution albeit that they rely on expensive physical clock synchronisation, which is both expensive and may suffer from scalability. Hence, deterministic programming of distributed systems remains challenging. We address the challenges of deterministic distribution by developing a novel multiclock semantics of synchronous programs. The developed semantics is amenable to seamless distribution. Moreover, our programming model, Timetide, alleviates the need for physical clock synchronisation by building on the recently proposed logical synchrony model for distributed systems. We discuss the important aspects of distributing computation, such as network communication delays, and explore the formal verification of Timetide programs. To the best of our knowledge, Timetide is the first multiclock synchronous language that is both amenable to distribution and formal verification without the need for physical clock synchronisation or clock gating.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2507_14471
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Timetide: A programming model for logically synchronous distributed systems
Kenwright, Logan
Roop, Partha
Allen, Nathan
Caşcaval, Călin
Malik, Avinash
Programming Languages
Distributed, Parallel, and Cluster Computing
Massive strides in deterministic models have been made using synchronous languages. They are mainly focused on centralised applications, as the traditional approach is to compile away the concurrency. Time triggered languages such as Giotto and Lingua Franca are suitable for distribution albeit that they rely on expensive physical clock synchronisation, which is both expensive and may suffer from scalability. Hence, deterministic programming of distributed systems remains challenging. We address the challenges of deterministic distribution by developing a novel multiclock semantics of synchronous programs. The developed semantics is amenable to seamless distribution. Moreover, our programming model, Timetide, alleviates the need for physical clock synchronisation by building on the recently proposed logical synchrony model for distributed systems. We discuss the important aspects of distributing computation, such as network communication delays, and explore the formal verification of Timetide programs. To the best of our knowledge, Timetide is the first multiclock synchronous language that is both amenable to distribution and formal verification without the need for physical clock synchronisation or clock gating.
title Timetide: A programming model for logically synchronous distributed systems
topic Programming Languages
Distributed, Parallel, and Cluster Computing
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.14471