On a Decentralized $(Δ{+}1)$-Graph Coloring Algorithm

We consider a decentralized graph coloring model where each vertex only knows its own color and whether some neighbor has the same color as it. The networking community has studied this model extensively due to its applications to channel selection, rate adaptation, etc. Here, we analyze variants of a simple algorithm of Bhartia et al. [Proc., ACM MOBIHOC, 2016]. In particular, we introduce a variant which requires only $O(n\log\Delta)$ expected recolorings that generalizes the coupon collector problem. Finally, we show that the $O(n\Delta)$ bound Bhartia et al. achieve for their algorithm still holds and is tight in adversarial scenarios.