The discrete time ToolBus — A software coordination architecture

The notion of “time” plays an important role when coordinating large, heterogeneous, distributed software systems. We present a generic coordination architecture that supports relative and absolute, discrete time. First, we briefly sketch the ToolBus coordination architecture. Next, we give a minor and a major example of its use: a calculator and a distributed auction. Finally, we sketch a framework for describing the operational behavior of the ToolBus, and conclude with a survey of implementation aspects and applications.