/pdf/software-agents-a-review-2scp9swp5l.pdf

Software agents: A review

Mobile agent evolution computing

This paper describes the design and implementation of INCA, an open architecture for the distributed management of multi-service networks and systems applications The Intelligent Network Control Architecture is populated by stationary and mobile intelligent agents These agents perform monitoring and control of network and systems components, thereby supporting the integrated management of networks and services The architecture provides transaction capabilities to control transport and mobility of agents, agent prioritization, and multiple agent code transfer schemes Managed objects used to access resources on network elements and new system functionality can be created, distributed, and replaced dynamically An example INCA application demonstrates that prioritized agents are necessary to support the timely execution of critical tasks The design of our agent based network management platform is not bound to a particular programming language or computing environment; the current implementation however, is based on Java and RMI

INCA: an agent-based network control architecture

Computer usage is once again going through changes. Leaving behind the experiences of mainframes with terminal access and personal computers with graphical user interfaces, we are now headed for handheld devices and ubiquitous computing; we are facing the prospect of interacting with electronic services. These network-enabled functional components provide benefit to users regardless of their whereabouts, access method, or access device. The market place is also changing, from suppliers of monolithic oAE-the-shelf applications, to open source and collaboratively developed specialized services.
It is within this new arena of computing that we describe Individual Service Provisioning, a design and implementation that enables end users to create and provision their own services. Individual Service Provisioning consists of three components: a personal service environment, in which users can access and manage their services; ServiceDesigner, a tool with which to create new services; and the provisioning system, which turns end users into service providers.

Individual service provisioning

Mobile agent techniques involve distributed control if communication is required among different types of agents, especially when mobile agents can migrate from station to station. This techniques can be implemented in a distributed distance learning environment, which allows students or instructors to login from anywhere to a central server in an education center while still retaining the look-and-feel of personal setups. In this research paper, we propose a distributed agent framework along with its communication messages to facilitate mobile personal agents, which serve three different groups of distance education users: instructors, students, and system administrators. We propose an agent communication framework as well as agent evolution states of mobile agents. The communication architecture and message transmission protocols are illustrated. The system is implemented on the Windows platform to support nomadic accessibility of remote distance learning users. Personal data also migrate with the mobile agents, allowing users to maintain accessibility to some extent even when the Internet connection is temperately disconnected. Using user-friendly personal agents, a distance education platform can include different tools to meet different needs for users.

Y. Chen

Papers

An open agent architecture for integrating multimedia services