Losing Control: The Case for Emergent Software Systems Using Autonomous Assembly, Perception, and Learning

Abstract

Abstract-Architectural self-organisation, in which different configurations of software modules are dynamically assembled based on the current context, has been shown to be an effective way for software to self-optimise over time. Current approaches to this rely heavily on human-led definitions: models, policies and processes to control how self-organisation works. We present the case for a paradigm shift to fully emergent computer software which places the burden of understanding entirely into the hands of software itself. These systems are autonomously assembled at runtime from discovered constituent parts and their internal health and external deployment environment continually monitored. An online, unsupervised learning system then uses runtime adaptation to explore alternative system assemblies and locate optimal solutions. Based on our experience to date, we define the problem space of emergent software, and we present a working case study of an emergent web server. Our results demonstrate two aspects of the problem space for this case study: that different assemblies of behaviour are optimal in different deployment environment conditions; and that these assemblies can be autonomously learned from generalised perception data while the system is online.

Experiments with a Machine-centric Approach to Realise Distributed Emergent Software Systems

“…We also assume the property of 'divergent optimality', such that some compositions of component variants are most efficient in some operating environments, while other compositions are most efficient in other operating environments. In [8] and [7] we demonstrate these properties for a single web server instance. We do not elaborate on this further here, but the interested reader is referred to [8] for more detail.…”

“…In [8] and [7] we demonstrate these properties for a single web server instance. We do not elaborate on this further here, but the interested reader is referred to [8] for more detail.…”

“…In this section we define our model of distributed emergent software systems and discuss the key challenges in their construction. First, however, we summarise the concept of local emergent software systems [8] as necessary background.…”

“…As detailed in [8], local emergent systems are defined as systems whose behaviours emerge at runtime to satisfy a goal in the face of fluctuations in their current operating environment. We formalise this with the following model:…”

“…In contrast to the above, this is a machine-centric approach which moves the burden of complexity into software itself, avoids the need for prediction of behaviours, and supports total flexibility to the actual environments encountered as they are observed and learned about. Our approach is based on our existing work on local emergent software, which we have demonstrated can assemble, reason over and design software at runtime using limited information [8,7].…”