Patent ID: 7574497

Claim:
A system including a processor and a memory for controlling a connection-based system in which a plurality of independently executing control agents are distributed across an agent communication framework, each control agent being associated with a subsystem of the connection-based system wherein each control agent is responsive to other control agents such that connection-based system goals and connection-based system states can be propagated throughout the distributed network of control agents and acted upon to autonomously control the connection-based system, said system comprising: in the subsystem, hardware components that are subject to component failures; an agent communication framework that serves as a communication network for the plurality of control agents, wherein each control agent is comprised of: an agent communication broker that provides a communication interface between a control agent and the agent communication framework; a model based reasoning engine (MBRE) communicable with the agent communication broker, the MBRE being based on failure sensitive component models of the hardware components that include (i) physical properties based models on the hardware components, and (ii) failure states of the hardware components, wherein the MBRE estimates a component failure based subsystem state based on data gathered from the hardware components and knowledge of the past commands issued to said hardware components; and a planner communicable with the agent communication broker and the model based reasoning engine that generates a reconfiguration plan for the implementation of a specific goal based on input including the specific goal and the subsystem state, and wherein each control agent propagates commands for achieving the specific goal that are issued to associated hardware components.