Multi-dimensional Dependency and Conflict Resolution for Self-adaptable Context-aware Systems

Self-adaptable systems dynamically adapt to satisfy new functionality requirements, to optimize performance and to adapt to variable runtime conditions. Context-aware systems acquire and utilize information about the context of a user and a device to provide personalized applications. Adaptation in a transparent way for the user is an important concern for both systems. To decrease the adaptation complexity of self-adaptable context-aware systems, we propose to model self-adaptation across three layers of abstractions: the runtime infrastructure, the context middleware and the user applications. The aim is to achieve per layer self-adaptation of the composition or behavior of these layers without jeopardizing the integrity and usability of the overall system. We discuss a multi-dimensional dependency and conflict resolution mechanism to guide self-adaptation and find a stable reconfiguration of the system at runtime