Optimal Uncoordinated Unique IDs
Peter C. Dillinger, Martı́n Farach-Colton, Guido Tagliavini, Stefan Walzer · 2023
In the Uncoordinated Unique Identifiers Problem (UUIDP) there are n independent instances of an algorithm A that generates IDs from a universe (1, ..., m) , and there is an adversary that requests IDs from these instances. The goal is to design A such that it minimizes the probability that the same ID is ever generated twice across all instances, that is, minimizes the collision probability. Crucially, no communication between the instances of A is possible. Solutions to the UUIDP are often used as mechanisms for surrogate key generation in distributed databases and key-value stores. In spite of its practical relevance, we know of no prior theoretical work on the UUIDP.