Affiliations: Programming Research Group, University of Amsterdam,
Amsterdam, the Netherlands. E-mail: janb@science.uva.nl | Computing Science Department, Eindhoven University of
Technology, Eindhoven, the Netherlands. E-mail: keesm@win.tue.nl
Abstract: In a previous paper, we developed an algebraic theory about threads
and multi-threading based on the assumption that a deterministic interleaving
strategy determines how threads are interleaved. The theory includes
interleaving operators for a number of plausible deterministic interleaving
strategies. The interleaving of different threads constitutes a multi-thread.
Several multi-threads may exist concurrently on a single host in a network,
several host behaviors may exist concurrently in a single network on the
internet, etc. In the current paper, we assume that the above-mentioned kind of
interleaving is also present at these other levels. We extend the theory
developed so far with features to cover the multi-level case. We use the
resulting theory to develop a simplified formal representation schema of
systems that consist of several multi-threaded programs on various hosts in
different networks. We also investigate the connections of the resulting theory
with the algebraic theory of processes known as ACP.
