Modeling a Computational Grid of Mobile Devices as a Multi-Agent System

Mobile wireless devices have won strong support from users and serve as a basis for today’s anytime, anywhere computing paradigm. These devices, however, are significantly constrained by wireless communication media and mobility; they also lack the computational resources to resolve resource-intensive tasks. Grid computing paradigm can be used to overcome these constraints by pooling the resources of several willing and cooperative mobile devices to resolve a computationally-intensive task. We propose an architecture for the computational grid based on a multi-agent system paradigm in a cellular network. Intelligent agents use each other’s resources in order to solve a shared computational task. In this paper, we discuss several aspects of the architecture including agent activities, mobility issues, network configuration, parallel task distribution, assignment and resolution, and agent communication protocols. We conclude with implementation details of this multi-agent system and discussion of the planned experiments. 1

An Agent Based Intrusion Detection Model for Mobile Ad Hoc Networks

Intrusion detection has over the last few years, assumed paramount importance within the broad realm of network security, more so in case of wireless mobile ad hoc networks. The inherently vulnerable characteristics of wireless mobile ad hoc networks make them susceptible to attacks in-spite of some security measures, and it may be too late before any counter action can take effect. As such, there is a need to complement traditional security mechanisms with efficient intrusion detection and response systems. This paper proposes an agent-based model to address the aspect of intrusion detection in cluster based mobile wireless ad hoc network environment. The model comprises of a set of static and mobile agents, which are used to detect intrusions, respond to intrusions, and distribute selected and aggregated intrusion information to all other nodes in the network in an intelligent manner. The model is simulated to test its operation effectiveness by considering the performance parameters such as, detection rate, false positives, agent overheads, and intrusion information distribution time. Agent based approach facilitates flexible and adaptable security services. Also, it supports component based software engineering components such as maintainability, reachability, reusability, adaptability, flexibility, and customization