A Simulator to Validate the Concept of Artificial DNA for Self-Building Embedded Systems

Embedded systems are becoming more and more complex because of the increasing chip integration density, larger number of chips in distributed applications and demanding application fields (e.g. in cars and in households). Bio-inspired techniques like self-organization are a key feature to handle this complexity. However, self organization needs a guideline for setting up and managing the system. In biology the structure and organization of a system is coded in its DNA. This concept can be adapted to embedded systems. Since many embedded systems can be composed from a limited number of basic elements, the structure and parameters of such systems can be stored in a compact way representing an artificial DNA deposited in each computation node. Based on the DNA, the self organization mechanisms can setup the system autonomously providing a self-building system. System repair and optimization at runtime are also possible, leading to higher robustness, dependability and flexibility. Since the system knows its own structure, the artificial DNA can also be a first step towards self-integrating systems. This paper introduces the basic concepts of the artificial DNA and presents a simulator to validate the approach.