Modeling Adaptive Self-healing Systems

Motivation: Smart grids design requires energy distribution operations to be adaptable to abnormality. This requirement entails distribution system operators (DSOs) to optimize restoration to normal operational states dynamically. However, these design challenges demand collaborative research efforts on sophisticated modeling and simulation approaches. Approach: In the ESOSEG research project, analyzing the smart grid domain as a software-intensive system, we employed a dynamic architecture approach, particularly the FOCUS theory, to model and assure the domains' self-healing requirements. Although some works specify various self-healing systems, to the best of our knowledge, the use of the approach in smart grids is the first work to enable a formal specification and verification of self-healing properties in smart grids. Results: As a result, to support the modeling and verification process, we developed tool support with Eclipse Modeling Framework (EMF), Xtext, and other languages in the EMF ecosystem. The tool includes a grammar or a meta-model of the DSL, an interface to enable textual and graphical modeling of architectural patterns and code transformer engine for verification. Furthermore, we evaluated the modeling and verification features of the tool support with an e-Car charging scenario for modeling adaptive self-healing properties. Futureworks: As an outlook, future works could include investigation of comprehensive case studies. These, for instance, could be further particular adaptability scenarios addressing challenges in DSOs. Another interesting aspect could be the evaluation of the modeling approach by investigating its use with engineers involved in a smart grid design. Next, the evaluation could be followed with abstractions of the verification process to make it useable by system architects with no knowledge of the proof language, Isabelle/HOL.