Addressing stability in future autonomic networking

When considering autonomic networking, where multiple self-* functionalities, in terms of node-wide or network-wide control loops, must operate, interact and proficiently collaborate, stability problems inherently arise due to the distributed nature of the decision making process and autonomic nodes interactions towards enabling various self-* functionalities, along with the stochastic nature of the networking environment. This article provides a systematic, concrete view of stability in autonomic networks design. It aims at identifying and categorizing fundamental autonomic networksâ architectural and designing issues that cause or affect stability, highlighting and discussing corresponding solutions and thus, providing theoretic tools for analyzing and treating them. As a reference m odel we adopt Generic Autonomic Network Architecture (GANA), a holistic framework for autonomic networks engineering.