In: Proc. 4th Int. Conf. on Autonomous Agents, 3-7 June 2000, Barcelona, Spain, pages 148-155. 2000.
Abstract: A framework for developing ``mobile agent'' systems is described based on Petri net models of design patterns in the Aglets workbench. The models can be automatically configured from Java source programs, and can account for stochastic parameters such as port contention at hosts, agent registration, background workloads and scalability issues, such as bounds on total number of agents that may be supported at a host. The proposed approach is application centered, with particular emphasis on agent based e-commerce. The models are verified by comparing the performance of an application on Aglets with Petri net simulations on the GreatSPN simulator. Subsequently, guidelines are provided for designers of distributed systems using mobile agent design patterns, for building applications. The concepts discussed have a much wider applicability than Aglets, although the latter is used to demonstrate the Petri net based framework. The proposed techniques can also be used in developing real-time applications, where service guarantees are required.
Keywords: Aglets, GreatSPN, Petri nets, mobile agent systems, performance management.