A system and method is provided for cooperative execution of distributed
tasks by networked computers without the use of a centralized controller
to coordinate the task execution. Each computer has an execution agent
that cooperates with the execution agents of the other computers to carry
out the execution of a given sequence of tasks. The execution
instructions for the task sequence are provided to a first computer in
the selected set of computers for task execution. The first computer
processes the instructions and forwards them to its peer computers so
that each of them knows the tasks it is to perform in connection with the
tasks of the other computers. The computers then executes the tasks
assigned to them and use peer-to-peer communications to provide status
update to their peer computers to synchronize and coordinate the task
execution.
