Mobile agent system framework suitable for scalable networks

Abstract

Purpose

To provide a formal framework based on the action and reaction model that allows us to cover the dynamics of multi‐agent systems (MAS) made up of mobile software agents suitable for scalable networks.

Design/methodology/approach

This model is based on the operation of the human nervous centers. In the case of systems based on mobile agents, the main problem is the different vision the agents have of the world and the impossibility of being aware of and synchronizing all the influences brought by the different agents acting on it.

Findings

This proposal has been compared with the conventional MAS by solving an extension of the predator‐prey problem. The results show the advantages of mobility, as the size of the problem grows in a distributed system.

Practical implications

At the present time, the model is being applied in works related to the control of biological systems and also in those related to the network management.

Originality/value

From this formulation, a set of refinements on the conventional approach is proposed that reduces the effect of possible space and time inconsistencies between the agents and the environment and at the same time, achieves the generalization of the reaction function.

Citation

Maciá‐Pérez, F. and Manuel García‐Chamizo, J. (2006), "Mobile agent system framework suitable for scalable networks", Kybernetes, Vol. 35 No. 5, pp. 688-699. https://doi.org/10.1108/03684920610662403