Process and system for managing run-time adaptation for general purpose distributed adaptive applications

A process for providing coherent run-time adaptation mechanisms for an adaptive software application program, the process comprising the steps of:

• a) instantiating an adaptive class of said adaptive software application program to create a first adaptive object, said first adaptive object residing within memory units of said computer system, said first adaptive object having a first adaptive method, wherein said first adaptive method comprises a plurality of first implementations;
• b) instantiating said adaptive class to create a second adaptive object, said second adaptive object residing within said memory units of said computer system, said second adaptive object having a second adaptive method, wherein said second adaptive method comprises a plurality of second implementations;
• c) said first adaptive object generating a first selector, said first selector residing within said memory units, and wherein said first selector selects a first one of said plurality of first implementations;
• d) said second adaptive object generating a second selector, said second selector residing within said memory units, and wherein said second selector selects a first one of said plurality of second implementations;
• e) in response to a change in execution environment of said adaptive software application program, said first selector selecting a second one of said plurality of first implementations and said second selector selecting a second one of said plurality of second implementations.

A process for providing coherent run-time adaptation mechanisms for an adaptive software application program, the process comprising the steps of:

• a) instantiating a first adaptive class of said adaptive software application program to generate a first adaptive object, said first adaptive object having a first reflective method and a first meta-space;
• b) said first adaptive object generating a first reflector, said reflector for defining said first meta-space;
• and
• c) instantiating a second adaptive class of said adaptive software application program to generate a second adaptive object, said second adaptive object having a second reflective method and a second meta-space;
• d) said second adaptive object generating a second reflector, said reflector for defining said second meta-space;
• e) in response to a change in execution environment of said adaptive software application program, altering said first meta-space and said second meta-space according to a predetermined adaptation policy and said adaptation event by modifying said first reflector and said second reflector.

A system for providing run-time adaptation mechanisms for an adaptive software application program, the system comprising:

• a) means for instantiating a first adaptive class of said adaptive software application program to create a first adaptive object, said first adaptive object residing within memory units of said computer system, said first adaptive object having a first adaptive method, wherein said first adaptive method comprises a plurality of first implementations, and wherein said first adaptive object creates a first selector for selecting a first one of said first implementations when instantiated;
• b) means for storing predetermined adaptation policies associating adaptive classes to adaptation events;
• and
• c) means for generating an adaptation event in response to a change in execution environment of said adaptive software application program;
• d) an adaptation managing means for controlling adaptation of said first adaptive object, wherein said adaptation managing means selects a second one of said plurality of first implementations according to a predetermined adaptation policy and said adaptation event by modifying said first selector upon receiving said adaptation event.