Self-reconfigurable software architecture: Design and implementation

To respond quickly to the rapidly changing manufacturing environment, it is imperative for the system to have such capabilities as flexibility, adaptability, and reusability. The fractal manufacturing system (FrMS) is a new manufacturing paradigm designed to meet these requirements. Through its dynamic restructuring process (DRP), the FrMS is able to reorganize the system’s configuration by its definition. To facilitate a dynamic reconfiguration of system elements (i.e., fractals), fractals as well as software modules should be self-reconfigurable. Embodiment of a selfreconfigurable manufacturing system is achieved by using self-reconfigurable software architecture. In this paper, therefore, self-reconfigurable software architecture is designed by conducting the following studies: (1) analysis of functional requirements of a fractal and environmental constraints, (2) design of reconfigurable software architecture, (3) selection of proper techniques to implement software modules, and realization of software architecture equipped with self-reconfigurability. To validate this approach, the designed architecture is applied to the FrMS.