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 ( n 2 ).