Emergence of Modularity in System of Systems: Complex Networks in Heterogeneous Environments

Abstract

Effective use of modularity in distributed systems is key to accommodating the complexity arising from having diverse requirements and stakeholders and increased environmental uncertainties. Moreover, modularity facilitates efficient dynamic resource allocation in the system. In this paper, a formal framework that links various classes of systems modularity to distributed decision complexities is presented by formulating modularity as an emergent phenomenon arising from environmental heterogeneity. This paper also demonstrates behavioral and mathematical formulations of the problem and agent-based simulation of sample networked systems to verify the results.