Compressing Communication in Distributed Protocols

Abstract

We show how to compress communication in selection protocols, where the goal is to agree on a sequence of random bits using only a broadcast channel. More specifically, we present a generic method for converting any selection protocol, into another selection protocol where each message is ``short'' while preserving the same number of rounds, the same output distribution, and the same resilience to error. Assuming that the output of the protocol lies in some universe of size $M$, in our resulting protocol each message consists of only $\mathsf{polylog}(M,n,d)$ many bits, where $n$ is the number of parties and $d$ is the number of rounds. Our transformation works in the presence of either static or adaptive Byzantine faults. As a corollary, we conclude that for any $\mathsf{poly}(n)$-round collective coin-flipping protocol, leader election protocol, or general selection protocols, messages of length $\mathsf{polylog}(n)$ suffice (in the presence of either static or adaptive Byzantine faults).