The utility of pollination for autonomic computing

Abstract

From the biology’s point of view, pollination is an important step in the reproduction of seed plants. From our point of view, pollination is a promising and novel, biological paradigm for future dependable and self-managing computing systems. This estimation is based on the characteristics the pollination process between plants and insects implies inherently. To utilize pollination as a paradigm for self-managing and thus autonomic computing systems, this paper identifies the useful properties that emerge by the collaborative behavior of insects and plants during the pollination process. Based on this process the paper presents an artificial pollination system that implements these properties by adapting the natural architecture and behavior. Furthermore, the paper illustrates the practical value of this system by an application in aviation. Finally open issues and an outlook on future work are presented.