Different Perspectives on FLP Impossibility
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We demonstrate possibility for vector consensus under the model and conditions used by Fischer, Lynch, and Patterson (FLP) to prove impossibility of binary consensus - full asynchrony and one faulty process. Under that model, we also demonstrate that with any binary consensus protocol: i) binary outcome is produced from a vector value; ii) elaboration on a vector value is an unavoidable necessity; and iii) binary agreement can be reached with voting on a vector value. Key finding: the FLP impossibility result is about impossibility to produce a binary value from any allowed vector value, i.e., from any data set assembled from an allowed initial state.
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