Thesis (M.S.)--University of Florida, 2001. / Title from first page of PDF file. Document formatted into pages; contains ix, 65 p.; also contains graphics. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 63-64).

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Florida, 2001. / Title from first page of PDF file. Document formatted into pages; contains ix, 65 p.; also contains graphics. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 63-64).

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Florida, 2003. / Title from title page of source document. Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Florida, 2001. / Title from title page of source document. Document formatted into pages; contains x, 37 p.; also contains graphics. Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references.

We extend the Jinni mobile agent architecture with a multicast network transport layer, an agent-to-agent delegation mechanism and a reflection based Prolog-to-Java interface. To ensure that our agent infrastructure runs efficiently, independently of router-level multicast support, we describe a blackboard based algorithm for locating a randomly roaming agent. As part of the agent-to-agent delegation mechanism, we describe an alternative to code-fetching mechanism for stronger mobility of mobile agents with less network overhead. In the context of direct and reflection based extension mechanisms for Jinni, we describe the design and the implementation of a reflection based Prolog-to-Java interface. The presence of subtyping and method overloading makes finding the most specific method corresponding to a Prolog call pattern fairly difficult. We describe a run-time algorithm which provides accurate handling of overloaded methods beyond Java's reflection package's limitations.

The purpose of this thesis is to present a comprehensive colligation of applications of mobile agents in networks, and provide a baseline association of these systems. This work has been motivated by the fact that mobile agent systems have been deemed proficuous alternatives in system applications. Several mobile agent systems have been developed to provide scalable and cogent solutions in network-centric applications. This thesis examines some existing mobile agent systems in core networking areas, in particular, those of network and resource management, routing, and the provision of fault tolerance and security. The inherent features of these systems are discussed with respect to their specific functionalities. The applicability and efficacy of mobile agents are further considered in the specific areas mentioned above. Although an initial foray into a collation of this nature, the goal of this annotated bibliography is to provide a generic referential view of mobile agent systems in network applications.

Mobile agents require an appropriate platform that can facilitate their migration and execution. In particular, the design and implementation of such a system must balance several factors that will ensure that its constituent agents are executed without problems. Besides the basic requirements of migration and execution, an agent system must also provide mechanisms to ensure the security and survivability of an agent when it migrates between hosts. In addition, the system should be simple enough to facilitate its widespread use across large scale networks (i.e Internet). To address these issues, this thesis discusses the design and implementation of the Distributed Agent Delivery System (DADS). The DADS provides a de-coupled design that separates agent acceptance from agent execution. Using functional modules, the DADS provides services ranging from language execution and security to fault-tolerance and compression. Modules allow the administrator(s) of hosts to declare, at run-time, the services that they want to provide. Since each administrative domain is different, the DADS provides a platform that can be adapted to exchange heterogeneous blends of agents across large scale networks.

by Sau-Koon Ng. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 100-112). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Evolution of the mobile agent paradigm --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- Terminology --- p.5 / Chapter 1.3 --- Beneficial aspects --- p.7 / Chapter 1.3.1 --- Autonomy --- p.7 / Chapter 1.3.2 --- Client customization --- p.8 / Chapter 1.3.3 --- Attendant and real time interactions --- p.8 / Chapter 1.4 --- Fundamental deployment bottleneck: security concern --- p.9 / Chapter 1.4.1 --- Risking the mobile agent hosts --- p.10 / Chapter 1.4.2 --- Risking the mobile agents --- p.11 / Chapter 1.4.3 --- The difficult problem --- p.12 / Chapter 1.5 --- Contribution of this thesis --- p.13 / Chapter 1.6 --- Structure of the thesis --- p.14 / Chapter 2 --- Understanding attacks and defense --- p.15 / Chapter 2.1 --- Introduction --- p.15 / Chapter 2.2 --- Understanding attacks --- p.16 / Chapter 2.2.1 --- The meaning of an attack --- p.16 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- An abstract model of attacks --- p.17 / Chapter 2.2.3 --- A survey of various attacks --- p.21 / Chapter 2.3 --- Understanding defense --- p.25 / Chapter 2.3.1 --- The meaning of defense --- p.25 / Chapter 2.3.2 --- Security requirements of defense --- p.26 / Chapter 2.3.3 --- A survey of protection schemes --- p.28 / Chapter 2.4 --- Concluding remarks --- p.40 / Chapter 3 --- Confidentiality in mobile agent systems --- p.42 / Chapter 3.1 --- Introduction --- p.42 / Chapter 3.2 --- Motivations --- p.43 / Chapter 3.2.1 --- Program comprehension --- p.44 / Chapter 3.2.2 --- Black-box testing --- p.45 / Chapter 3.3 --- Theory --- p.46 / Chapter 3.3.1 --- Assumptions --- p.46 / Chapter 3.3.2 --- Entropy of mobile agents --- p.46 / Chapter 3.3.3 --- Intention spreading by insertion --- p.49 / Chapter 3.3.4 --- Intention shrinking by splitting --- p.52 / Chapter 3.3.5 --- Nested spreading and shrinking --- p.55 / Chapter 3.4 --- Implementation possibilities --- p.55 / Chapter 3.4.1 --- Addition of irrelevant variables and conditional statements --- p.55 / Chapter 3.4.2 --- Splitting the cost function --- p.60 / Chapter 3.5 --- Security analysis --- p.63 / Chapter 3.5.1 --- Human inspection --- p.63 / Chapter 3.5.2 --- Automatic program comprehension --- p.64 / Chapter 3.6 --- Related work --- p.66 / Chapter 3.6.1 --- Time limited blackbox security --- p.66 / Chapter 3.6.2 --- Computing with encrypted function --- p.66 / Chapter 3.7 --- Applicability --- p.67 / Chapter 3.8 --- Further considerations --- p.68 / Chapter 3.8.1 --- Weaknesses --- p.68 / Chapter 3.8.2 --- Relationship with other approaches --- p.69 / Chapter 3.8.3 --- Further development --- p.71 / Chapter 3.9 --- Concluding remarks --- p.71 / Chapter 4 --- Anonymity in mobile agent systems --- p.73 / Chapter 4.1 --- Introduction --- p.73 / Chapter 4.2 --- Solutions to anonymity --- p.74 / Chapter 4.2.1 --- Mixing --- p.75 / Chapter 4.2.2 --- Group signatures --- p.76 / Chapter 4.3 --- Anonymous agents --- p.78 / Chapter 4.3.1 --- Anonymous connection --- p.78 / Chapter 4.3.2 --- Anonymous communication --- p.79 / Chapter 4.4 --- Concluding remarks --- p.84 / Chapter 5 --- Open issues --- p.86 / Chapter 5.1 --- Introduction --- p.86 / Chapter 5.2 --- Security issues --- p.86 / Chapter 5.2.1 --- Reachable problems --- p.87 / Chapter 5.2.2 --- Difficult problems --- p.88 / Chapter 5.3 --- Performance issues --- p.88 / Chapter 5.3.1 --- Complexity and strength --- p.89 / Chapter 5.3.2 --- An optimizing protocol --- p.90 / Chapter 5.4 --- Concluding remarks --- p.94 / Chapter 6 --- Conclusions --- p.96

Wong, Tsz-Yeung. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 77-79). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Related Work --- p.2 / Chapter 1.2 --- Progressive Fault-Tolerant Mechanism --- p.4 / Chapter 1.3 --- Organization of This Thesis --- p.7 / Chapter 1.4 --- Contribution of The Thesis --- p.8 / Chapter 2 --- Server Failure Detection and Recovery --- p.9 / Chapter 3 --- Agent Failure Detection and Recovery --- p.12 / Chapter 3.1 --- System Architecture --- p.12 / Chapter 3.2 --- Protocol Design --- p.14 / Chapter 3.3 --- Failure and Recovery Scenarios --- p.16 / Chapter 3.3.1 --- When fails to receive msgiarrive --- p.17 / Chapter 3.3.2 --- Whenwi-1 fails to receive msgieave --- p.19 / Chapter 3.3.3 --- Failures of the witness agents and recovery scenarios --- p.22 / Chapter 3.3.4 --- Catastrophic failures --- p.24 / Chapter 3.4 --- Simplification --- p.24 / Chapter 4 --- Fault-Tolerant Mechanism Analysis --- p.27 / Chapter 4.1 --- Definitions and Notations --- p.27 / Chapter 4.2 --- Assumptions --- p.29 / Chapter 4.3 --- The Algorithm --- p.30 / Chapter 4.3.1 --- Informal algorithm descriptions --- p.30 / Chapter 4.3.2 --- Formal algorithm descriptions --- p.32 / Chapter 4.4 --- Liveness Proof --- p.39 / Chapter 4.5 --- Simplification Analysis --- p.52 / Chapter 5 --- Link Failure Analysis --- p.61 / Chapter 5.1 --- Problems of Link Failure --- p.61 / Chapter 5.2 --- Solution --- p.62 / Chapter 6 --- Reliability Evaluation --- p.67 / Chapter 6.1 --- Server Failure Detection Analysis --- p.68 / Chapter 6.2 --- Agent Failure Detection Analysis --- p.71 / Bibliography --- p.77 / A Glossary --- p.80

by Wong, Wan-Lung. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 88-92). / Abstract also in Chinese. / Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Mobile Agent Systems --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- Distributed Control Systems --- p.2 / Chapter 1.3 --- Motivation of the Dissertation --- p.3 / Chapter 1.4 --- Related Work --- p.3 / Chapter 1.5 --- Overview of the Dissertation --- p.5 / Chapter 2 --- Mobile Agents --- p.6 / Chapter 2.1 --- Definition of an Agent --- p.7 / Chapter 2.1.1 --- A Weak Notion of Agents --- p.8 / Chapter 2.1.2 --- A Stronger Notion of Agents --- p.9 / Chapter 2.1.3 --- Other Attributes of Agents --- p.9 / Chapter 2.2 --- Characteristics of Mobile Agents --- p.10 / Chapter 2.3 --- Programming Languages for Mobile Agents --- p.11 / Chapter 3 --- A Mobile Agent Framework --- p.16 / Chapter 3.1 --- The Framework --- p.16 / Chapter 3.1.1 --- Agent Operations --- p.19 / Chapter 3.1.2 --- Agent Life Cycle --- p.23 / Chapter 3.1.3 --- Agent Migration Server --- p.26 / Chapter 3.1.4 --- Communication Server --- p.28 / Chapter 3.1.5 --- Facilitator --- p.30 / Chapter 3.2 --- April as a Mobile Agent Language --- p.30 / Chapter 4 --- An Agent Based Distributed Train Control and Monitoring Sys- tem --- p.32 / Chapter 4.1 --- Introduction to DiTCAMS --- p.33 / Chapter 4.2 --- Terminology in DiTCAMS --- p.34 / Chapter 4.3 --- Architecture of DiTCAMS --- p.34 / Chapter 4.3.1 --- Active Agents --- p.36 / Chapter 4.3.2 --- Passive Agents --- p.38 / Chapter 4.4 --- Agent Collaborations --- p.41 / Chapter 4.4.1 --- Track Resource Allocation --- p.41 / Chapter 4.4.2 --- Sensor Triggering --- p.42 / Chapter 4.4.3 --- Hardware Control --- p.42 / Chapter 4.4.4 --- Train Migration --- p.42 / Chapter 4.5 --- Other Implementation Issues --- p.46 / Chapter 4.5.1 --- Track Resource Management --- p.47 / Chapter 4.5.2 --- Railway Topology Encoding --- p.50 / Chapter 4.5.3 --- Train Location Determination --- p.54 / Chapter 4.5.4 --- Train Speed Control --- p.62 / Chapter 4.5.5 --- Collision Prevention and Recovery --- p.64 / Chapter 4.5.6 --- Improving Efficiency of April for Real-time Execution --- p.65 / Chapter 5 --- Discussions --- p.72 / Chapter 5.1 --- On Enabling Mobile Agents --- p.72 / Chapter 5.2 --- Cost in Achieving Mobile Agents --- p.74 / Chapter 5.3 --- On Using April as a Mobile Agent Language --- p.75 / Chapter 5.4 --- History of DiTCAMS --- p.76 / Chapter 6 --- Concluding Remarks --- p.79 / Chapter 6.1 --- Contributions --- p.79 / Chapter 6.2 --- Limitations --- p.80 / Chapter 6.3 --- Future Work --- p.81 / Chapter A --- Hardware Components --- p.83 / Chapter B --- A Concurrent Administrator Based Train System Using C --- p.85 / Bibliography --- p.88