An Architectural Strategy for Self-Adapting Systems

Self-adaptation is the ability of a software system to adapt to dynamic and changing operating conditions autonomously. In this paper, we present an architectural strategy for self-adapting systems. An architectural strategy embodies architectural knowledge about a particular solution approach. The architectural strategy for self-adapting systems structures the software into a number of interacting autonomous entities (agents) that are situated in an environment. It integrates a set of architectural patterns that have proved to be valuable in the design of various self-adapting applications. The self-adapting properties of the approach are based on the agents' abilities to adapt their behavior to dynamic and changing circumstances. The architectural strategy provides an asset base architects can draw from when developing new self-adapting applications that share its common base.