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Explain in detail the concept of mobile agent

Characteristics of mobile agents: The following characteristics are typical of a mobile agent and its host:

  • An agent must have its own unique identity.
  • It must be able to determine what other agents are executing on the agent host (AH).
  • It must be able to determine what messages other agents accept and send.
  • An AH must allow agents to communicate with each other and itself.
  • It must allow multiple agents to coexist and execute simultaneously.
  • It must be able to negotiate the exchange of agents.
  • It must be able to freeze an executing agent and transfer it to another host.
  • It must be able to thaw an agent transferred from another and allow it to resume execution.
  • It must prevent agents from directly interfering with each other.

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Mobile Agents:

  • An agent is “an independent software program, which runs on behalf of a network user”.
  • A mobile agent is a program that, once it is launched by a user, can travel from node to node autonomously, and can continue to function even if the user is disconnected from the network.

Properties

  • Autonomy:-Independent to user
  • Adaptive learning:-adaptive in environment
  • Mobility:-jumping from one node to another node
  • Rationality:-Do not divert from its goal.

Advantages - Reduction in network load - Overcome network latency - Async & autonomous execution - Fault tolerance

Disadvantages - Virus can be disguised as mobile agent - Security bug. - Async & autonomous execution - Mobile agent are not mature technology and most agent development tools are alpha or beta version.

Life cycle of mobile agent

Fig: Life cycle of mobile agent

Application: - Parallel computing. - Data collection. - E-commerce. - Mobile computing.

Advantages of Mobile Agents

  • They allow efficient and economical use of communication channels that may have low bandwidth, high latency, and may be error- prone. They enable the use of portable, low-cost, personal communications devices to perform complex tasks even when the device is disconnected from the network.
  • They allow asynchronous operations and true decentralization.

Disadvantages ● Security ● risk Virus-attack 13 Mobile-agent applications ● Information retrieval ● Monitoring Virtual market-place/ meeting room ● Shareware

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