Evolution of network computing paradigms: applications of mobile agents in wired and wireless networks

The World Wide Web (or Web for short) is the largest client-server computing system commonly available, which is used through its widely accepted universal client (the Web browser) that uses a standard communication protocol known as the HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) to display information described in the HyperText Markup Language (HTML). The current Web computing model allows the execution of server-side applications such as Servlets and client-side applications such as Applets. However, it offers limited support for another model of network computing where users would be able to use remote, and perhaps more powerful, machines for their computing needs. The client-server model enables anyone with a Web-enabled device ranging from desktop computers to cellular telephones, to retrieve information from the Web. In today's information society, however, users are overwhelmed by the information with which they are confronted on a daily basis. For subscribers of mobile wireless data services, this may present a problem. Wireless handheld devices, such as cellular telephones are connected via wireless networks that suffer from low bandwidth and have a greater tendency for network errors. In addition, wireless connections can be lost or degraded by mobility. Therefore, there a need for entities that act on behalf of users to simplify the tasks of discovering and managing network computing resources. It has been said that software agents are a solution in search of a problem. Mobile agents, however, are inherently distributed in nature, and therefore they represent a natural view of a distributed system. They provide an ideal mechanism for implementing complex systems, and they are well suited for applications that are communicationscentric such as Web-based network computing. Another attractive area of mobile agents is processing data over unreliable networks (such as wireless networks). In such an environment, the low reliability network can be used to transfer agents rather than a chunk. of data. The agent can travel to the nodes of the network, collect or process information without the risk of network disconnection, then return home. The publications of this doctorate by published works report on research undertaken in the area of distributed systems with emphasis on network computing paradigms, Web-based distributed computing, and the applications of mobile agents in Web-based distributed computing and wireless computing. The contributions of this collection of related papers can be summarized in four points. First, I have shown how to extend the Web to include computing resources; to illustrate the feasibility of my approach I have constructed a proof of concept implementation. Second, a mobile agent-based approach to Web-based distributed computing, that harness the power of the Web as a computing resource, has been proposed and a system has been prototyped. This, however, means that users will be able to use remote machines to execute their code, but this introduces a security risk. I need to make sure that malicious users cannot harm the remote system. For this, a security policy design pattern for mobile Java code has been developed. Third, a mediator-based approach to wireless client/server computing has been proposed and guidelines for implementing it have been published. This approach allows access to Internet services and distributed object systems from resource-constraint handheld wireless devices such as cellular telephones. Fourth and finally, a mobile agent-based approach to the Wireless Internet has been designed and implemented. In this approach, remote mobile agents can be accessed and used from wireless handheld devices. Handheld wireless devices will benefit greatly from this approach since it overcomes wireless network limitations such as low bandwidth and disconnection, and enhances the functionality of services by being able to operate without constant user input

Development of mobile agent framework in wireless sensor networks for multi-sensor collaborative processing

Recent advances in processor, memory and radio technology have enabled production of tiny, low-power, low-cost sensor nodes capable of sensing, communication and computation. Although a single node is resource constrained with limited power, limited computation and limited communication bandwidth, these nodes deployed in large number form a new type of network called the wireless sensor network (WSN). One of the challenges brought by WSNs is an efficient computing paradigm to support the distributed nature of the applications built on these networks considering the resource limitations of the sensor nodes. Collaborative processing between multiple sensor nodes is essential to generate fault-tolerant, reliable information from the densely-spatial sensing phenomenon. The typical model used in distributed computing is the client/server model. However, this computing model is not appropriate in the context of sensor networks. This thesis develops an energy-efficient, scalable and real-time computing model for collaborative processing in sensor networks called the mobile agent computing paradigm. In this paradigm, instead of each sensor node sending data or result to a central server which is typical in the client/server model, the information processing code is moved to the nodes using mobile agents. These agents carry the execution code and migrate from one node to another integrating result at each node. This thesis develops the mobile agent framework on top of an energy-efficient routing protocol called directed diffusion. The mobile agent framework described has been mapped to collaborative target classification application. This application has been tested in three field demos conducted at Twentynine palms, CA; BAE Austin, TX; and BBN Waltham, MA

Intrusion Detection System For Adhoc Networks

The rapid proliferation of wireless networks and mobile computing applications has changed thelandscape of network security. The recent denial of service attacks on major Internet sites have shown us, no open computer network is immunefrom intrusions. The wireless ad-hoc network is particularly vulnerable due to its featuresof open medium, dynamic changing topology, cooperative algorithms, lack of centralizedmonitoring and management point, and lack of a clear line of defense. The traditionalway of protecting networks with firewalls and encryption software is no longer sufficientand effective. Many intrusion detection techniques have been developed on fixed wirednetworks but have been turned to be inapplicable in this new environment. We need tosearch for new architecture and mechanisms to protect wireless networks and mobilecomputing application. In this paper, we examine the vulnerabilities of wireless networksand say that we must include intrusion detection in the security architecture for mobilecomputing environment. We have showed such architecture and evaluated keymechanisms in this architecture such as applying mobile agents to intrusion detection,anomaly detection and misuse detection for mobile ad-hoc networks

DATA DRIVEN INTELLIGENT AGENT NETWORKS FOR ADAPTIVE MONITORING AND CONTROL

To analyze the characteristics and predict the dynamic behaviors of complex systems over time, comprehensive research to enable the development of systems that can intelligently adapt to the evolving conditions and infer new knowledge with algorithms that are not predesigned is crucially needed. This dissertation research studies the integration of the techniques and methodologies resulted from the fields of pattern recognition, intelligent agents, artificial immune systems, and distributed computing platforms, to create technologies that can more accurately describe and control the dynamics of real-world complex systems. The need for such technologies is emerging in manufacturing, transportation, hazard mitigation, weather and climate prediction, homeland security, and emergency response. Motivated by the ability of mobile agents to dynamically incorporate additional computational and control algorithms into executing applications, mobile agent technology is employed in this research for the adaptive sensing and monitoring in a wireless sensor network. Mobile agents are software components that can travel from one computing platform to another in a network and carry programs and data states that are needed for performing the assigned tasks. To support the generation, migration, communication, and management of mobile monitoring agents, an embeddable mobile agent system (Mobile-C) is integrated with sensor nodes. Mobile monitoring agents visit distributed sensor nodes, read real-time sensor data, and perform anomaly detection using the equipped pattern recognition algorithms. The optimal control of agents is achieved by mimicking the adaptive immune response and the application of multi-objective optimization algorithms. The mobile agent approach provides potential to reduce the communication load and energy consumption in monitoring networks. The major research work of this dissertation project includes: (1) studying effective feature extraction methods for time series measurement data; (2) investigating the impact of the feature extraction methods and dissimilarity measures on the performance of pattern recognition; (3) researching the effects of environmental factors on the performance of pattern recognition; (4) integrating an embeddable mobile agent system with wireless sensor nodes; (5) optimizing agent generation and distribution using artificial immune system concept and multi-objective algorithms; (6) applying mobile agent technology and pattern recognition algorithms for adaptive structural health monitoring and driving cycle pattern recognition; (7) developing a web-based monitoring network to enable the visualization and analysis of real-time sensor data remotely. Techniques and algorithms developed in this dissertation project will contribute to research advances in networked distributed systems operating under changing environments

Mobile Agent Middleware for Sensor Networks: An Application Case Study

Agilla is a mobile agent middleware that facilitates the rapid deployment of adaptive applications in wireless sensor networks (WSNs). Agilla allows users to create and inject special programs called mobile agents that coordinate through local tuple spaces, and migrate across the WSN performing application-specific tasks. This fluidity of code and state has the potential to transform a WSN into a shared, general-purpose computing platform capable of running several autonomous applications at a time, allowing us to harness its full potential. We have implemented and evaluated a fire tracking application to determine how well Agilla achieves its goals. Fire is modeled by agents that gradually spread throughout the network, engulfing nodes by inserting fire tuples into their local tuple spaces. Fire tracker agents are then used to form a perimeter around the fire. Using Agilla, we were able to rapidly create and deploy 47 byte fire agents, and 100 byte tracker agents on a WSN consisting of 26 MICA2 motes. Our experiments show that the tracker agents can form an 8-node perimeter around a burning node within 6.5 seconds and that it can adapt to a fire spreading at a rate of 7 seconds per hop. We also present the lessons learned about the adequacy of Agilla’s primitives, and regarding the efficiency, reliability, and adaptivity of mobile agents in a WSN

Mobile agent based distributed network management : modeling, methodologies and applications

The explosive growth of the Internet and the continued dramatic increase for all wireless services are fueling the demand for increased capacity, data rates, support of multimedia services, and support for different Quality of Services (QoS) requirements for different classes of services. Furthermore future communication networks will be strongly characterized by heterogeneity. In order to meet the objectives of instant adaptability to the users\u27 requirements and of interoperability and seamless operation within the heterogeneous networking environments, flexibility in terms of network and resource management will be a key design issue. The new emerging technology of mobile agent (MA) has arisen in the distributed programming field as a potential flexible way of managing resources of a distributed system, and is a challenging opportunity for delivering more flexible services and dealing with network programmability. This dissertation mainly focuses on: a) the design of models that provide a generic framework for the evaluation and analysis of the performance and tradeoffs of the mobile agent management paradigm; b) the development of MA based resource and network management applications. First, in order to demonstrate the use and benefits of the mobile agent based management paradigm in the network and resource management process, a commercial application of a multioperator network is introduced, and the use of agents to provide the underlying framework and structure for its implementation and deployment is investigated. Then, a general analytical model and framework for the evaluation of various network management paradigms is introduced and discussed. It is also illustrated how the developed analytical framework can be used to quantitatively evaluate the performances and tradeoffs in the various computing paradigms. Furthermore, the design tradeoffs for choosing the MA based management paradigm to develop a flexible resource management scheme in wireless networks is discussed and evaluated. The integration of an advanced bandwidth reservation mechanism with a bandwidth reconfiguration based call admission control strategy is also proposed. A framework based on the technology of mobile agents, is introduced for the efficient implementation of the proposed integrated resource and QoS management, while the achievable performance of the overall proposed management scheme is evaluated via modeling and simulation. Finally the use of a distributed cooperative scheme among the mobile agents that can be applied in the future wireless networks is proposed and demonstrated, to improve the energy consumption for the routine management processes of mobile terminals, by adopting the peer-to-peer communication concept of wireless ad-hoc networks. The performance evaluation process and the corresponding numerical results demonstrate the significant system energy savings, while several design issues and tradeoffs of the proposed scheme, such as the fairness of the mobile agents involved in the management activity, are discussed and evaluated

Adaptive Middleware for Resource-Constrained Mobile Ad Hoc and Wireless Sensor Networks

Mobile ad hoc networks: MANETs) and wireless sensor networks: WSNs) are two recently-developed technologies that uniquely function without fixed infrastructure support, and sense at scales, resolutions, and durations previously not possible. While both offer great potential in many applications, developing software for these types of networks is extremely difficult, preventing their wide-spread use. Three primary challenges are: 1) the high level of dynamics within the network in terms of changing wireless links and node hardware configurations,: 2) the wide variety of hardware present in these networks, and: 3) the extremely limited computational and energy resources available. Until now, the burden of handling these issues was put on the software application developer. This dissertation presents three novel programming models and middleware systems that address these challenges: Limone, Agilla, and Servilla. Limone reliably handles high levels of dynamics within MANETs. It does this through lightweight coordination primitives that make minimal assumptions about network connectivity. Agilla enables self-adaptive WSN applications via the integration of mobile agent and tuple space programming models, which is critical given the continuously changing network. It is the first system to successfully demonstrate the feasibility of using mobile agents and tuple spaces within WSNs. Servilla addresses the challenges that arise from WSN hardware heterogeneity using principles of Service-Oriented Computing: SOC). It is the first system to successfully implement the entire SOC model within WSNs and uniquely tailors it to the WSN domain by making it energy-aware and adaptive. The efficacies of the above three systems are demonstrated through implementation, micro-benchmarks, and the evaluation of several real-world applications including Universal Remote, Fire Detection and Tracking, Structural Health Monitoring, and Medical Patient Monitoring

Secure Sharing of Tuple Spaces in Ad Hoc Settings

AbstractSecurity is emerging as a growing concern throughout the distributed computing community. Typical solutions entail specialized infrastructure support for authentication, encryption and access control. Mobile applications executing over ad hoc wireless networks present designers with a rather distinct set of security requirements. A totally open setting and limited resources call for lightweight and highly decentralized security solutions. In this paper we propose an approach that relies on extending an existing coordination middleware for mobility (Lime). The need to continue to offer a very simple model of coordination that assures rapid software development led to limiting extensions solely to password protected tuple spaces and per tuple access control. Password distribution and security are relegated to the application realm. Host level security is ensured by the middleware design and relies on standard support provided by the Java system. Secure interactions among agents across hosts are accomplished by careful exploitation of the interceptor pattern and the use of standard encryption. The paper explains the design strategy used to add security support in Lime and its implications for the development of mobile applications over ad hoc networks