99--TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER OPPORTUNITY BYZANTINE-FAULT-TOLERANT CLOCK: LAR-17609

NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA solicits inquiries from companies interested in obtaining license rights to commercialize, manufacture and market the following technology. License rights may be issued on an exclusive or nonexclusive basis and may include specific fields of use. NASA provides no funding in conjunction with these potential licenses. THE TECHNOLOGY: Scientists at NASA Langley Research Center have NASA Langley Research Center has developed a protocol for clock synchronization in the presence of Byzantine faults after a transient event has dissipated. In the presence of arbitrary faulty node(s), the method is proven to self-stabilize the clock. The protocol has been shown to tolerate bursts of transient failures and deterministically unite with respect to synchronization period. The innovative protocols timing measures of variables are based on the nodes local clock, and thus, no central clock or externally generated pulse is needed. The protocol produces strong results because it does not rely on any assumptions regarding the initial state or internal status of the system. The minimum assumption enables the protocol to be employed for many practical as well as theoretical applications. NASA is seeking development partners and potential licensees for the patented protocol. Clock synchronization algorithms are essential for managing the use of resources and controlling communication in a distributed system. A fundamental criterion in the design of a robust distributed system is to provide the capability of tolerating and potentially recovering from failures that are not predictable in advance. Overcoming such failures is most suitably addressed by incorporating tolerances to Byzantine faults. NASAs novel synchronization protocol was developed because communication between independently clocked nodes is inherently imprecise. The imprecision is due to the drift of the clocks with respect to real time and Byzantine faults. Unless the system is designed to be Byzantine fault tolerant, it may not only behave erroneously but will also fail to work consistently when interacting with multiple other components. The NASA protocol communicates a self-stabilization message labeled sync derived from the state timer, at which time all good nodes transition to a restore state and then synchronously to a maintain state. The process is complete when all good nodes are returned to a maintain state, thereby recovering from drift and Byzantine faults. The patented protocol will ensure that the same group decisions are reached regardless of faulty components. U.S. patent 8,255,732. To express interest in this opportunity, please respond to contact@example.gov with the title of this Technology Transfer Opportunity as listed in this FBO notice and your preferred contact information. Please also provide the nature of your interest in the technology along with a brief background of your company. For more information about licensing other NASA-developed technologies, please visit the NASA Technology Transfer Portal at http://technology.nasa.gov/ . These responses are provided to members of NASA Langleys Office of Strategic Analysis and Business Development OSACB for the purpose of promoting public awareness of NASA-developed technology products, and conducting preliminary market research to determine public interest in and potential for future licensing opportunities. If direct licensing interest results from this posting, OSACB will follow the required formal licensing process of posting in the Federal Register. No follow-on procurement is expected to result from responses to this Notice.