Ant Colony Inspired Self-Healing for Resource Allocation in Service-Oriented Environment Considering Resource Breakdown

The ant colony optimization (ACO) algorithm is a metaheuristic inspired from the behavior of foraging ants. Instead of exploring its ability in finding optimal solutions, the current study investigates another unique property – self-healing mechanism for resource allocation in a service-oriented environment where unexpected resource breakdown can occur. A system architecture is first proposed to detect, diagnose and react to disturbances. Then the performance of the ACO self-healing mechanism is tested and compared based on a modified benchmark problem. The experimental results show that the self-healing mechanism can promptly recover an obsolete schedule with high quality solutions.