Self-aware networks

Article By:

Gelenbe, Erol Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Imperial College, London, United Kingdom.

Last reviewed:2011

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.YB110175

Self-aware computer networks (SAN) are, by design, able to observe both their own internal behavior and the external systems with which they interact. By modifying their behavior, they can adaptively achieve certain objectives, such as discovering services for their users, improving their quality of service (QoS), reducing their energy consumption, compensating for components that fail or malfunction, detecting and reacting to intrusions, and defending themselves against external attacks. The study of such networks is part of the field of autonomic communications. However, commonly used terms, such as self-awareness, can elicit different reactions from different people, including scientists and engineers from different disciplines. We all struggle with such concepts and may not have a clear understanding, or may have different understandings, of what such terms actually mean. Thus we will first review some relevant aspects of self-awareness, and then discuss how these can be embodied in the context of computer networks.

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