A domain model for self-adaptive software systems

Modern software systems operate in a continuously changing environment. To keep up with these changes, they can benefit from self-adaptation mechanisms. A number of modeling frameworks have been introduced to realize self-adaptive software systems. However, they usually focus either on runtime adaptation or on designing self-adaptability. As a consequence, they do not provide a clear link between architecture-level and system-level concepts. Without this link, we cannot ensure that the realized system will deliver the designed-for self-adaptability.

In this paper, we address this problem by introducing a domain model for self-adaptive software systems that encompasses both levels. Our model can be used to facilitate both architecture design (e.g. making better-informed design decisions) and system engineering (e.g. guiding self-adaptation at runtime). We show the application of our model in a case example from the literature where self-adaptation aims at energy efficiency.