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Reference.org
Matrix clock
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<p>A matrix clock is a mechanism for capturing chronological and causal relationships in a <a href="/facts/Distributed_system/o5nyhqTF">distributed system</a>. </p><p>Matrix clocks are a generalization of the notion of <a href="/facts/Vector_clock/IW3DwGFV">vector clocks</a>. A matrix clock maintains a <a href="/facts/Vector_(data_structure)/BKGvF8AM">vector</a> of the vector clocks for each communicating host. </p><p>Every time a message is exchanged, the sending host sends not only what it knows about the global state of <a href="/facts/Time/HceJKUGB">time</a>, but also the state of time that it received from other hosts. </p><p>This allows establishing a lower bound on what other hosts know, and is useful in applications such as <a href="/facts/Checkpointing/KjeTCpSB">checkpointing</a> and <a href="/facts/Garbage_collection_(computer_science)/j2vlIu7g">garbage collection</a>. </p>