Distributed Directory Service and Message Router for Mobile Agents
Distributed Directory Service and Message Router for Mobile Agents
Research about networks and agents has identified the need for a layer that provides a uniform protocol to communicate with fixed and mobile agents. In order to preserve the compatibility with existing infrastructures, proposed solutions have involved a "home agent", which forwards messages to a mobile entity. The mechanism of a home agent puts a burden on the infrastructure, which may hamper the scalability of the approach, in particular, in massively distributed systems, such as the amorphous computer or the ubiquitous/pervasive computing environment. Free from any compatibility constraint, we have designed an algorithm to route messages to mobile agents that does not require any fixed location. The algorithm has two different facets: a distributed directory service that maintains distributed information about the location of a mobile agent, and a message router that uses the directory service to deliver messages to a mobile agent. Two properties of the algorithm were established. The safety property ensures that messages are delivered to the agent they were aimed at, whereas the liveness property guarantees that messages eventually get delivered. A mechanical proof of the properties was carried out using the proof assistant Coq.
University of Southampton
Moreau, Luc
033c63dd-3fe9-4040-849f-dfccbe0406f8
1999
Moreau, Luc
033c63dd-3fe9-4040-849f-dfccbe0406f8
Moreau, Luc
(1999)
Distributed Directory Service and Message Router for Mobile Agents
University of Southampton
Record type:
Monograph
(Project Report)
Abstract
Research about networks and agents has identified the need for a layer that provides a uniform protocol to communicate with fixed and mobile agents. In order to preserve the compatibility with existing infrastructures, proposed solutions have involved a "home agent", which forwards messages to a mobile entity. The mechanism of a home agent puts a burden on the infrastructure, which may hamper the scalability of the approach, in particular, in massively distributed systems, such as the amorphous computer or the ubiquitous/pervasive computing environment. Free from any compatibility constraint, we have designed an algorithm to route messages to mobile agents that does not require any fixed location. The algorithm has two different facets: a distributed directory service that maintains distributed information about the location of a mobile agent, and a message router that uses the directory service to deliver messages to a mobile agent. Two properties of the algorithm were established. The safety property ensures that messages are delivered to the agent they were aimed at, whereas the liveness property guarantees that messages eventually get delivered. A mechanical proof of the properties was carried out using the proof assistant Coq.
Text
mob
- Accepted Manuscript
More information
Published date: 1999
Additional Information:
Address: ECSTR M99/3
Organisations:
Web & Internet Science
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 252747
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/252747
PURE UUID: 0fb0e49b-5ed6-4c2e-8d5e-2220ded6b46f
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 17 Apr 2000
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 05:22
Export record
Contributors
Author:
Luc Moreau
Download statistics
Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.
View more statistics