SEAHORSE: Generalizing an artificial hormone system algorithm to a middleware for search and delivery of information units

This paper introduces SEAHORSE (SElforganizing Artificial HORmone SystEm), a middleware that builds upon an artificial hormone system for search and delivery of information units. SEAHORSE is a generalization of an artificial hormone algorithm where information units are requested by network nodes via emitting a an artificial hormone which is propagated through the network with respect to the current network conditions. Information units are following the hormone gradient and therefore place themselves on servers where they are close to the requesting nodes. This self-organizing algorithm is robust and scalable, however, due to their complex nature, self-organizing systems are hard to configure and set up to get a desired outcome. Parameter settings that work on different scales are crucial for making the system work. Therefore, we provide a parameter study based on two use cases showing the applicability of SEAHORSE to target applications ranging from multimedia distribution at social events to information dissemination in smart electrical microgrids.