An object-based distributed computing environment based on a reflective architecture

This paper presents an object-based distributed computing environment based on a reflective architecture for industrial large-scale distributed systems. This distributed computing environment uses a compiler-based reflection technique to realize industrial distributed systems with standard workstations. A multiple-world model is also presented, in which a distributed system consists of hierarchical worlds that contain related objects. The distributed computing environment, based on the reflective architecture and the multiple-world model, provides object management and communication management functions, such as prioritized communications, high availability and reliability, nonstop maintenance and extension, and hierarchical transparency.