An Abstract Machine for a Higher-Order Distributed Process Calculus
Florence Germain, Marc Lacoste, Jean‐Bernard Stefani · Electronic Notes in Theoretical Computer Science · 2002
This paper presents the formal specification of an abstract machine or the M-calculus, a new distributed process calculus. The M-calculus can be understood as an extension of the Join calculus that realizes an original combination of the following features: programmable localities, higher-order functions and processes, process mobility, and dynamic binding. Our abstract machine covers these different features and presents a modular structure that clearly separates the sequential (functional) evaluation mechanism from the execution core, and the latter from basic marshalling, location and routing mechanisms.