A fully abstract trace model for dataflow networks

A dataflow network consists of nodes that communicate over perfect FIFO channels. For dataflow networks containing only deterministic nodes, a simple and elegant semantic model has been presented by Kahn. However, for nondeterministic networks, the straight-forward generalization of Kahn's model is not compositional. We present a compositional model for nondeterministic networks, which is fully abstract, i.e., it has added the least amount of extra information to Kahn's model which is necessary for attaining compositionality. The model is based on traces.Earlier version appears in the Proceedings of the 16th Annual ACM Symposium on Principles of Programming Languages, Austin, Texas, January 1989, pp. 155-65. Original report number R88016.