SEAHORSE: A Middleware for Search and Delivery of Information Units based on an Artificial Hormone System Algorithm

SEAHORSE structure

With the rise of networked smart devices and the so called Internet of Things, services require more scalability and robustness to handle the complexity of the underlying ecosystem. In some situations (e.g., disaster areas, large-area sports events, battle fields, etc.), a traditional network infrastructure does not exist, or is expensive to set up. In this context content is also consumed in a more dynamic way than in traditional environments. By looking at principles found in nature we can see that it is possible to handle complexity and dynamics by relying exclusively on simple, local decisions (bio-inspired self-organizing systems). As an example, ants are exploring the surrounding area to find food, and if found they go back to their home base leaving pheromones to guide other ants.
We introduce SEAHORSE, a middleware showing by example how an existing self-organizing algorithm can be generalized. SEAHORSE is a first step for bringing self-organizing algorithms towards real-world applications.
By specifying interfaces to the application the middleware transparently handles the distribution of content. We show two use cases from different technical fields and performed a parameter analysis to reduce the configuration effort.

A. Sobe, W. Elmenreich, T. Skalicky, and L. Böszörmenyi. SEAHORSE: Generalizing an artificial hormone system algorithm to a middleware for search and delivery of information units. Elsevier Journal of Computer Networks, 2015.