Deadlock detection in distributed systems

Abstract

The author describes a series of deadlock detection techniques based on centralized, hierarchical, and distributed control organizations. The point of view is that of practical implications. An up-to-date and comprehensive survey of deadlock detection algorithms is presented, their merits and drawbacks are discussed, and their performances (delays as well as message complexity) are compared. Related issues such as correctness of the algorithms, performance of the algorithms, and deadlock resolution, which require further research are examined.