Communicating object group and protocols for distributed systems

Distributed communicating object groups, relevant algorithms and object com munication protocols are presented. The distributed communicating object gr oup system (called DCO) is built on the basis of hierarchy group communicat ion protocols for networks. The system can be used as a specification and d esign environment for distributed fault-tolerant object-oriented (OO) appli cations. By combining distributed process group with the powerful OO concep ts, the novelty of DCO lies in its provision of methodology for constructio n of communicating object groups, reliable communication protocols, group m embership and management. The mechanisms of grouping user objects enable ap plication objects to communicate transparently over network. Communication details implemented by underlying group multicast protocol are thus hidden from users. This makes the objects completely responsible for their modific ation, protection, execution and communication. DCO is used to relieve appl ication designers from difficulty of designing object communication and rel iability. Multiple layers of object group protocols are given and their des ign and implementation experiences are presented. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.