Complex networks as control paradigm for complex systems: towards 'evolve-able' architectures for resilient enetworked applications

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The Internet of the future will be a nervous system for the entire economy, integrating 'opportunistic ecosystems' of single devices / departments / enterprises into a larger and more complex infrastructure called the Cyber-Physical Ecosystem (CPE). In the CPE, the individual properties or attributes of single entities will be dynamically combined to achieve an emergent desired behavior of the ecosystem. It is extremely hard - if not impossible - to control large scale CPE by building a global logic 'top-down' system able to rapidly adapt to changes by instructing each element what to do at each step. Using the latest knowledge of complexity science, we aim through this proposal to develop a methodological framework for designing for 'evolve-ability' large scale CPE capable of generating resilient and scalable structure from the 'bottom-up' by evolving self-organized basic architectural component 'cells.' These cells will be adaptively crafted through dynamic protocols enabling service composition into novel architectural components. The statistical properties displayed by the underlying network structure of the complex distributed system will reveal the appropriate parameters on which efficient reliable operation depends. The parameters will be tuned using an eNetwork middleware embedded into the complex system's fabric similar to how DNA molds the fundamental cells in natural systems such that they can evolve to accommodate gradual or abrupt change in the environment or internal operating conditions. Validation on the state-of-the-art testbed recently deployed in the Adaptive Risk Management Lab led by the applicant at UNB will enable proof of concept as well as applications that will revolutionize several areas of crucial importance, including: blackout-free electricity generation and distribution, optimization of energy consumption, disaster response through deployment of holistic security ecosystems, pandemic mitigation, networked transportation and manufacturing, and environmental monitoring and sustainability assessment.