A simple, safe reconfigurable object model with loosely-coupled communication

Abstract

Dynamic changes in open distributed environments damage the continuous execution of distributed objects. A distributed environment consisting of reconfigurable distributed objects would have higher reliability and availability, and a greater resilience to unexpected requirement changes.In this paper, we propose a reconfigurable, object model that dynamically changes the object's behavior to fit the current environment by modifying its internal structure. The proposed object consists of communicating concurrent meta-objects. Each meta-object contains functions for adaptation, remote communication, and administration. Therefore, this model provides the required separation of concerns (SoC). Generative communication, which allows meta-object communication, gives the proposed reconfigurable objects the following characteristics: flexibility; ability of allowing a variety of configurations; safety that ensures consistency; and a unification of state preservation and communication. The proposed object model was successfully implemented in a middleware framework called Juice 2.