+Asynchronous iterative methods have been studied for many years theorecally and
+practically. Many methods have been considered and convergence results have been
+proved. These methods can be used to solve in parallel fixed point problems
+(i.e. problems for which the solution is $x^\star =f(x^\star)$. In practice,
+asynchronous iterations methods can be used to solve, for example, linear and
+non-linear systems of equations or optimization problems, interested readers are
+invited to read~\cite{BT89,bahi07}.
+
+Before using an asynchronous iterative method, the convergence must be
+studied. Otherwise, the application is not ensure to reach the convergence. An
+algorithm that supports both the synchronous or the asynchronous iteration model
+requires very few modifications to be able to be executed in both variants. In
+practice, only the communications and convergence detection are different. In
+the synchronous mode, the iterations are synchronized whereas in the
+asynchronous one, they are not. It should be noticed that non blocking
+communications can be used in both modes. Concerning the convergence detection,
+synchronous variants can use a global convergence procedure which acts as a
+global synchronization point. In the asynchronous model, the convergence dectection is more tricky as it must not synchronize all the processors. Interested readers can consult~\cite{myBCCV05c,bahi07,ccl09:ij}.
+