A method is provided for assembling a shaft having a metal matrix composite mid shaft and monolithic high strength alloy forward and aft shafts. In a related microcode-implemented method, states of a multi-core processor are discovered by at least two cores participating in a de-centralized inter-core state discovery process. The interface logic may be a memory interface, and the surrogate circuit may be a memory circuit that is a smaller and simpler replica of an external memory die.