METHOD FOR CAUSAL ORDERING IN A DISTRIBUTED NETWORK

A system and method for causal ordering in a distributed network with a minimum amount of delay. In a distributed network having three interconnected nodes, each having synchronized clocks, the second node sends a message to the first node. Before it sends the message, however, the second node attaches a time stamp t2 to the message. To determine when the first node can provide a causally ordered response, the method first determines a minimum message latency f from the third node to the second node. The method then adds the value of the time stamp t2 to the message latency f to calculate a minimum response time t1. On or after the time t1, the first node can provide the causally ordered response.