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Documents authored by Li, Nan

Found 3 Possible Name Variants:

Li, Nan

Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.DISC.2021.29
Detectable Sequential Specifications for Recoverable Shared Objects

Authors: Nan Li and Wojciech Golab

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 209, 35th International Symposium on Distributed Computing (DISC 2021)

Abstract
The recent commercial release of persistent main memory by Intel has sparked intense interest in recoverable concurrent objects. Such objects maintain state in persistent memory, and can be recovered directly following a system-wide crash failure, as opposed to being painstakingly rebuilt using recovery state saved in slower secondary storage. Specifying and implementing recoverable objects is technically challenging on current generation hardware precisely because the top layers of the memory hierarchy (CPU registers and cache) remain volatile, which causes application threads to lose critical execution state during a failure. For example, a thread that completes an operation on a shared object and then crashes may have difficulty determining whether this operation took effect, and if so, what response it returned. Friedman, Herlihy, Marathe, and Petrank (DISC'17) recently proposed that this difficulty can be alleviated by making the recoverable objects detectable, meaning that during recovery, they can resolve the status of an operation that was interrupted by a failure. In this paper, we formalize this important concept using a detectable sequential specification (DSS), which augments an object’s interface with auxiliary methods that threads use to first declare their need for detectability, and then perform detection if needed after a failure. Our contribution is closely related to the nesting-safe recoverable linearizability (NRL) framework of Attiya, Ben-Baruch, and Hendler (PODC'18), which follows an orthogonal approach based on ordinary sequential specifications combined with a novel correctness condition. Compared to NRL, our DSS-based approach is more portable across different models of distributed computation, compatible with several existing linearizability-like correctness conditions, less reliant on assumptions regarding the system, and more flexible in the sense that it allows applications to request detectability on demand. On the other hand, application code assumes full responsibility for nesting DSS-based objects. As a proof of concept, we demonstrate the DSS in action by presenting a detectable recoverable lock-free queue algorithm and evaluating its performance on a multiprocessor equipped with Intel Optane persistent memory.
Cite as

Nan Li and Wojciech Golab. Detectable Sequential Specifications for Recoverable Shared Objects. In 35th International Symposium on Distributed Computing (DISC 2021). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 209, pp. 29:1-29:19, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2021)

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@InProceedings{li_et_al:LIPIcs.DISC.2021.29,
  author =	{Li, Nan and Golab, Wojciech},
  title =	{{Detectable Sequential Specifications for Recoverable Shared Objects}},
  booktitle =	{35th International Symposium on Distributed Computing (DISC 2021)},
  pages =	{29:1--29:19},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-210-5},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2021},
  volume =	{209},
  editor =	{Gilbert, Seth},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops-dev.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.DISC.2021.29},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-148311},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.DISC.2021.29},
  annote =	{Keywords: persistent memory, concurrency, fault tolerance, correctness, detectability}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.OPODIS.2019.19
Toward Linearizability Testing for Multi-Word Persistent Synchronization Primitives

Authors: Diego Cepeda, Sakib Chowdhury, Nan Li, Raphael Lopez, Xinzhe Wang, and Wojciech Golab

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 153, 23rd International Conference on Principles of Distributed Systems (OPODIS 2019)

Abstract
Persistent memory makes it possible to recover in-memory data structures following a failure instead of rebuilding them from state saved in slow secondary storage. Implementing such recoverable data structures correctly is challenging as their underlying algorithms must deal with both parallelism and failures, which makes them especially susceptible to programming errors. Traditional proofs of correctness should therefore be combined with other methods, such as model checking or software testing, to minimize the likelihood of uncaught defects. This research focuses specifically on the algorithmic principles of software testing, particularly linearizability analysis, for multi-word persistent synchronization primitives such as conditional swap operations. We describe an efficient decision procedure for linearizability in this context, and discuss its practical applications in detecting previously-unknown bugs in implementations of multi-word persistent primitives.
Cite as

Diego Cepeda, Sakib Chowdhury, Nan Li, Raphael Lopez, Xinzhe Wang, and Wojciech Golab. Toward Linearizability Testing for Multi-Word Persistent Synchronization Primitives. In 23rd International Conference on Principles of Distributed Systems (OPODIS 2019). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 153, pp. 19:1-19:17, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2020)

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@InProceedings{cepeda_et_al:LIPIcs.OPODIS.2019.19,
  author =	{Cepeda, Diego and Chowdhury, Sakib and Li, Nan and Lopez, Raphael and Wang, Xinzhe and Golab, Wojciech},
  title =	{{Toward Linearizability Testing for Multi-Word Persistent Synchronization Primitives}},
  booktitle =	{23rd International Conference on Principles of Distributed Systems (OPODIS 2019)},
  pages =	{19:1--19:17},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-133-7},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2020},
  volume =	{153},
  editor =	{Felber, Pascal and Friedman, Roy and Gilbert, Seth and Miller, Avery},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops-dev.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.OPODIS.2019.19},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-118050},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.OPODIS.2019.19},
  annote =	{Keywords: Shared memory, persistent memory, synchronization, multi-word primitives, concurrency, correctness, software testing}
}

Li, Guannan

Document
DOI: 10.4230/DagSemProc.09121.20
Monitoring Social Expectations in Second Life

Authors: Stephen Cranefield and Guannan Li

Published in: Dagstuhl Seminar Proceedings, Volume 9121, Normative Multi-Agent Systems (2009)

Abstract
Online virtual worlds such as Second Life provide a rich medium for unstructured human interaction in a shared simulated 3D environment. However, many human interactions take place in a structured social context where participants play particular roles and are subject to expectations governing their behaviour, and current virtual worlds do not provide any support for this type of interaction. There is therefore an opportunity to adapt the tools developed in the MAS community for structured social interactions between software agents (inspired by human society) and adapt these for use with the computer-mediated human communication provided by virtual worlds. This paper describes the application of one such tool for use with Second Life. A model checker for online monitoring of social expectations defined in temporal logic has been integrated with Second Life, allowing users to be notified when their expectations of others have been fulfilled or violated. Avatar actions in the virtual world are detected by a script, encoded as propositions and sent to the model checker, along with the social expectation rules to be monitored. Notifications of expectation fulfilment and violation are returned to the script to be displayed to the user. This utility of this tool is reliant on the ability of the Linden scripting language (LSL) to detect events of significance in the application domain, and a discussion is presented on how a range of monitored structured social scenarios could be realised despite the limitations of LSL.
Cite as

Stephen Cranefield and Guannan Li. Monitoring Social Expectations in Second Life. In Normative Multi-Agent Systems. Dagstuhl Seminar Proceedings, Volume 9121, pp. 1-12, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2009)

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@InProceedings{cranefield_et_al:DagSemProc.09121.20,
  author =	{Cranefield, Stephen and Li, Guannan},
  title =	{{Monitoring Social Expectations in Second Life}},
  booktitle =	{Normative Multi-Agent Systems},
  pages =	{1--12},
  series =	{Dagstuhl Seminar Proceedings (DagSemProc)},
  ISSN =	{1862-4405},
  year =	{2009},
  volume =	{9121},
  editor =	{Guido Boella and Pablo Noriega and Gabriella Pigozzi and Harko Verhagen},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops-dev.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/DagSemProc.09121.20},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-19068},
  doi =		{10.4230/DagSemProc.09121.20},
  annote =	{Keywords: Virtual worlds, Second Life, social expectations}
}

Li, Yinan

Document
Track A: Algorithms, Complexity and Games
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2021.110
Quantum Algorithms for Matrix Scaling and Matrix Balancing

Authors: Joran van Apeldoorn, Sander Gribling, Yinan Li, Harold Nieuwboer, Michael Walter, and Ronald de Wolf

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 198, 48th International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2021)

Abstract
Matrix scaling and matrix balancing are two basic linear-algebraic problems with a wide variety of applications, such as approximating the permanent, and pre-conditioning linear systems to make them more numerically stable. We study the power and limitations of quantum algorithms for these problems. We provide quantum implementations of two classical (in both senses of the word) methods: Sinkhorn’s algorithm for matrix scaling and Osborne’s algorithm for matrix balancing. Using amplitude estimation as our main tool, our quantum implementations both run in time Õ(√{mn}/ε⁴) for scaling or balancing an n × n matrix (given by an oracle) with m non-zero entries to within 𝓁₁-error ε. Their classical analogs use time Õ(m/ε²), and every classical algorithm for scaling or balancing with small constant ε requires Ω(m) queries to the entries of the input matrix. We thus achieve a polynomial speed-up in terms of n, at the expense of a worse polynomial dependence on the obtained 𝓁₁-error ε. Even for constant ε these problems are already non-trivial (and relevant in applications). Along the way, we extend the classical analysis of Sinkhorn’s and Osborne’s algorithm to allow for errors in the computation of marginals. We also adapt an improved analysis of Sinkhorn’s algorithm for entrywise-positive matrices to the 𝓁₁-setting, obtaining an Õ(n^{1.5}/ε³)-time quantum algorithm for ε-𝓁₁-scaling. We also prove a lower bound, showing our quantum algorithm for matrix scaling is essentially optimal for constant ε: every quantum algorithm for matrix scaling that achieves a constant 𝓁₁-error w.r.t. uniform marginals needs Ω(√{mn}) queries.
Cite as

Joran van Apeldoorn, Sander Gribling, Yinan Li, Harold Nieuwboer, Michael Walter, and Ronald de Wolf. Quantum Algorithms for Matrix Scaling and Matrix Balancing. In 48th International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2021). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 198, pp. 110:1-110:17, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2021)

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@InProceedings{vanapeldoorn_et_al:LIPIcs.ICALP.2021.110,
  author =	{van Apeldoorn, Joran and Gribling, Sander and Li, Yinan and Nieuwboer, Harold and Walter, Michael and de Wolf, Ronald},
  title =	{{Quantum Algorithms for Matrix Scaling and Matrix Balancing}},
  booktitle =	{48th International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2021)},
  pages =	{110:1--110:17},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-195-5},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2021},
  volume =	{198},
  editor =	{Bansal, Nikhil and Merelli, Emanuela and Worrell, James},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops-dev.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2021.110},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-141793},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2021.110},
  annote =	{Keywords: Matrix scaling, matrix balancing, quantum algorithms}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ESA.2020.26
Improved Algorithms for Alternating Matrix Space Isometry: From Theory to Practice

Authors: Peter A. Brooksbank, Yinan Li, Youming Qiao, and James B. Wilson

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 173, 28th Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2020)

Abstract
Motivated by testing isomorphism of p-groups, we study the alternating matrix space isometry problem (AltMatSpIso), which asks to decide whether two m-dimensional subspaces of n×n alternating (skew-symmetric if the field is not of characteristic 2) matrices are the same up to a change of basis. Over a finite field 𝔽_p with some prime p≠2, solving AltMatSpIso in time p^O(n+m) is equivalent to testing isomorphism of p-groups of class 2 and exponent p in time polynomial in the group order. The latter problem has long been considered a bottleneck case for the group isomorphism problem. Recently, Li and Qiao presented an average-case algorithm for AltMatSpIso in time p^O(n) when n and m are linearly related (FOCS '17). In this paper, we present an average-case algorithm for AltMatSpIso in time p^O(n+m). Besides removing the restriction on the relation between n and m, our algorithm is considerably simpler, and the average-case analysis is stronger. We then implement our algorithm, with suitable modifications, in Magma. Our experiments indicate that it improves significantly over default (brute-force) algorithms for this problem.
Cite as

Peter A. Brooksbank, Yinan Li, Youming Qiao, and James B. Wilson. Improved Algorithms for Alternating Matrix Space Isometry: From Theory to Practice. In 28th Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2020). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 173, pp. 26:1-26:15, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2020)

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@InProceedings{brooksbank_et_al:LIPIcs.ESA.2020.26,
  author =	{Brooksbank, Peter A. and Li, Yinan and Qiao, Youming and Wilson, James B.},
  title =	{{Improved Algorithms for Alternating Matrix Space Isometry: From Theory to Practice}},
  booktitle =	{28th Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2020)},
  pages =	{26:1--26:15},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-162-7},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2020},
  volume =	{173},
  editor =	{Grandoni, Fabrizio and Herman, Grzegorz and Sanders, Peter},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops-dev.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ESA.2020.26},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-128920},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ESA.2020.26},
  annote =	{Keywords: Alternating Matrix Spaces, Average-case Algorithm, p-groups of Class 2nd Exponent p, Magma}
}
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