Show & Tell — Phase 28.3 CognitiveLoadBalancer: Adaptive Load Theory

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CognitiveLoadBalancer — Load Theory & Adaptive Balancing

Tri-Component Load Model (Sweller 1988)

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                 Total Cognitive Load                  │
│                                                       │
│  ┌──────────────┐ ┌──────────────┐ ┌──────────────┐ │
│  │   INTRINSIC   │ │  EXTRANEOUS  │ │   GERMANE    │ │
│  │  (task        │ │ (overhead,   │ │ (learning,   │ │
│  │  complexity)  │ │  I/O wait,   │ │  schema      │ │
│  │              │ │  formatting) │ │  building)   │ │
│  └──────────────┘ └──────────────┘ └──────────────┘ │
│         │                │                │          │
│         └────────────────┼────────────────┘          │
│                          ▼                           │
│            ┌──────────────────────┐                  │
│            │   Capacity Ceiling    │                  │
│            │   (Kahneman 1973)    │                  │
│            └──────────────────────┘                  │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Load Shedding Algorithm

for each balance() cycle:
    1. Measure: poll all subsystem loads via measure_load()
    2. Aggregate: total = Σ(intrinsic + extraneous + germane)
    3. Check thresholds:
       - subsystem > 90% → THROTTLE that subsystem
       - system > 85% → enter SHED mode
    4. If SHED mode:
       a. Sort subsystems by priority (ascending)  
       b. For lowest-priority subsystem:
          - First shed EXTRANEOUS load (overhead reduction)
          - Then shed GERMANE load (defer learning)
          - Never shed INTRINSIC load (core task)
       c. Repeat until system < 85%
    5. Hysteresis: remain in SHED mode until system < 70%

Graceful Degradation Tiers

Tier	System Load	Action	Quality Impact
0 — Normal	< 70%	None	Full quality
1 — Elevated	70–85%	Reduce extraneous load	Minimal
2 — High	85–95%	Shed lowest-priority + throttle	Moderate
3 — Critical	> 95%	Emergency shed all non-essential	Significant

Hysteresis Band

The 70%–85% hysteresis band prevents oscillation:

• Enter SHED at 85%, exit SHED only when below 70%
• This avoids the scenario where shedding reduces load to 84%, which triggers un-shed, which raises load back to 86%, etc.

Integration Map

PerformanceProfiler ──▶ capacity estimation
      (16.1)               │
                            ▼
WorkingMemoryGate ──▶ AdaptiveCognitiveLoadBalancer ──▶ HorizonPlanner
     (28.2)                │                              (18.1)
                           │
                    ┌──────┴───────┐
                    │ Load Actions │
                    │ SHED/THROTTLE│
                    │ OFFLOAD/BOOST│
                    └──────┬───────┘
                           ▼
                  ExecutiveController
                       (28.4)