  Consider n nodes connected to a single coordinator. Each node receives an
individual online data stream of numbers and, at any point in time, the
coordinator has to know the k nodes currently observing the largest values, for
a given k between 1 and n. We design and analyze an algorithm that solves this
problem while bounding the amount of messages exchanged between the nodes and
the coordinator. Our algorithm employs the idea of using filters which,
intuitively speaking, leads to few messages to be sent, if the new input is
"similar" to the previous ones. The algorithm uses a number of messages that is
on expectation by a factor of O((log {\Delta} + k) log n) larger than that of
an offline algorithm that sets filters in an optimal way, where {\Delta} is
upper bounded by the largest value observed by any node.
