Combining Distributed and Central Control for Self-Adaptive Systems of Systems

Abstract

Distributed and central control are two complementary paradigms to establish self-adaptation in software systems. Both approaches have their individual benefits and drawbacks, which lead to significant trade-offs regarding certain software qualities when designing such systems. The significance of these trade-offs even increases the more complex the target system becomes. In this paper, we present our work-in-progress towards an integrated control approach, which aims at providing the best of both control paradigms. We present the basic concepts of this multi-paradigm approach and outline its inherent support for complex system hierarchies. Further, we illustrate the vision of our approach using application scenarios from the smart energy grid as an example for self-adaptive systems of systems.