ALEA: An Anonymous Leader Election Algorithm for Synchronous Distributed Systems

In a distributed system of nodes, leader election is the task of designating one of the nodes as the leader. In this work, we introduce ALEA, an anonymous leader election algorithm for distributed system with synchronous assumptions. The algorithm does not require a node to have knowledge of the identities of other nodes present in the network, ensuring privacy in the whole election process. Proof of other desirable properties such as uniqueness, agreement and termination are detailed as well. The overall number of exchanged messages is O(n2 ), n being the number of nodes, and its actual performance is experimentally evaluated and discussed.