Optimal multiple message broadcasting in telephone-like communication systems

We consider the problem of broadcasting multiple messages from one processor to many processors in telephone-like communication systems. In such systems, processors communicate in rounds, where in every round, each processor can communicate with exactly one other processor by exchanging messages with it. Finding an optimal solution for this problem was open for over a decade. In this paper, we present an optimal algorithm for this problem when the number of processors is even. For an odd number of processors, we provide an algorithm which is within an additive term of 3 of the optimum. A by-product of our solution is an optimal algorithm for the problem of broadcasting multiple messages for any number of processors in the simultaneous send/receive model. In this latter model, in every round, each processor can send a message to one processor and receive a message from another processor.