Visibility of control in adaptive systems

  • Authors:
  • Hausi Müller;Mauro Pezzè;Mary Shaw

  • Affiliations:
  • University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada;University of Lugano, Lugano, Switzerland;Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

  • Venue:
  • Proceedings of the 2nd international workshop on Ultra-large-scale software-intensive systems
  • Year:
  • 2008

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Abstract

Adaptive systems respond to changes in their internal state or external environment with guidance from an underlying control system. ULS systems are particularly likely to require dynamic adaptation because of their decentralized control and the large number of independent stakeholders whose actions are integral to the system's behavior. Adaptation may take various forms, but the system structure will almost inevitably include one or more closed feedback loops. We argue that adaptability is a characteristic of a solution, not of a problem, and that the feedback loop governing control of adaptability should be explicit in design and analysis and either explicit or clearly traceable in implementation.