Virtual communication channel and virtual private community, and agent collaboration system and agent collaboration method for controlling the same

• US 20030018792A1
• Filed: 08/29/2002
• Published: 01/23/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 09/07/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Original Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Inventors: Fukuta, Shigeki, Okada, Makoto, Mohri, Takao, Wada, Yuji, Iwao, Tadashige, Yamasaki, Shigeichiro, Nishigaya, Takashi, Shiouchi, Masatoshi
• Granted Patent: US 7,581,012 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/229
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/046 comprising network management agents or mobile agents therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0893 Assignment of logical groups to network elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0894 Policy-based network configuration management

Abstract

A policy that relates attributes of an agent to a role is distributed to each agent on a network. A field connector generates an internal field in accordance with an instruction of a security manager. A ROLE manager uses attribute information from an attribute manager, and assigns each agent a ROLE in accordance with the attributes of each agent, and installs a ROLE method table and a ROLE execution part. When receiving a message from an external network, each agent searches for a corresponding ROLE by referring to the ROLE method table, and executes the ROLE. Thus, collaboration among agents is realized through a virtual communication channel by means of the exchange of a message.

Claims

1. An agent collaboration system for connecting agents to each other through a virtual communication channel, each agent on the virtual communication channel comprising:

a policy storing part for storing a policy that is a collection of rules containing a rule representing a relationship between attributes of the agent and a role assigned in accordance with the attributes;

a role assignment part having the policy storing part, for providing a role in accordance with the attributes of the agent based on the policy;

a role-execution condition storing part for storing the role assigned by the role assignment part and conditions for executing contents of the role; and

a processing execution part for executing corresponding contents of a role in a case where the execution conditions for the contents of the role are satisfied,

wherein the agents collaborate with each other through the virtual communication channel based on the policy.

2. An agent collaboration system according to claim 1, wherein the policy comprises, in addition to the rule representing a relationship between attributes of the agent and a role assigned in accordance with the attributes, at least one of a rule representing a relationship between attributes of a data object and an agent'"'"'s reaction to operation with respect to the data object, a rule representing a relationship between a collection of the roles and a collection of the reactions, and a rule representing a relationship between the collections of the roles.

3. An agent collaboration system according to claim 1, wherein, in each agent, contents of a policy stored in the policy storing part is updated, and deletion/alteration of the rules, and addition of a new rule are conducted.

4. An agent collaboration system according to claim 1, wherein the processing execution part previously holds a processing function module, and selectively enables the processing function module in the processing execution part, based on the contents of a role held by the role-execution condition holding part, thereby installing a processing function.

5. An agent collaboration system according to claim 4, wherein, in installment of a processing function in the processing execution part, in a case where the processing function module required for execution of the contents of a role is not previously held, the system receives a required processing function module from a resource on a network through the virtual communication channel to use it.

6. An agent collaboration system according to claim 1, wherein a policy generated by an agent is distributed to another agent,

the agent having received the distributed policy obtains a role in accordance with attributes of the agent using the role assignment part based on the policy, thereby installing the processing execution part, and

a virtual communication channel is formed among agents having the distributed policy in common.

7. An agent collaboration system according to claim 1, wherein a policy repository storing the policy is provided on the virtual communication channel, and

each agent obtains a required policy from the policy repository and stores it in the policy storing part.

8. An agent collaboration system according to claim 1, wherein a cerfification authority is provided on the virtual communication channel, and

the certification authority authenticates access right of each agent to the virtual communication channel, and contents of a role held by the role-execution condition holding part of each agent.

9. An agent collaboration system according to claim 8, wherein the certification authority is divided into a policy approving authority, an attribute authority, and a certification authority,

the policy approving authority issues a policy certification for certifying that a policy is an authentic one, based on an electronic signature provided to data describing the policy,

the attribute authority issues an attribute certification for certifying attributes of each agent,

the certification authority issues a public key certification for certifying that an agent on the network has been authenticated, and

each agent includes a trust engine for interpreting the policy certification and the attribute certification, and the role assignment part specifies appropriate contents of a role to be assigned to the agents, based on the policy and the attribute of the agents distributed on the network.

10. An agent collaboration system according to claim 1, wherein each agent is capable of selecting participation or nonparticipation on the virtual communication channel.

11. An agent collaboration system according to claim 9, wherein, when logging in to a virtual communication channel, each agent uses the trust engine, and logs in to the communication channel while obtaining certification of a policy by receiving an input policy certification and an attribute certification corresponding to the virtual communication channel, and

a policy is safely propagated among agents participating on the virtual communication channel by a log-in chain of each agent.

12. An agent collaboration system according to claim 1, wherein the policy storing part generates and manages independent policies, and generates virtual private communities independently among agents exchanging information based on each policy on the virtual communication channel.

13. An agent collaboration system according to claim 1, wherein the policy storing part integrates policy sets selected from policies independently generated and managed, and generates virtual private communities among agents exchanging information based on the integrated policy on the virtual communication channel.

14. An agent collaboration system according to claim 1, wherein the policy storing part divides the policy into independent policies, and generates virtual private communities independently among agents exchanging information based on the respective policies on the virtual communication channel after policy division.

15. An agent collaboration system according to claim 1, wherein the policy storing part stores a first policy and a second policy belonging to the first policy, in which a new rule is added to the first policy, and a virtual private community among agents based on the second policy are generated in a nested manner on a virtual private community among agents based on the first policy.

16. An agent collaboration system according to claim 1, wherein an agent making a request with respect to another agent transmits request information having LABEL information based on the policy,

the agent that receives the request information and responds to the request information transmits response information having LABEL information based on the policy, and

the agent that transmits the request receives response information having the LABEL information based on the policy.

17. An agent collaboration system according to claim 1, wherein a role held by the role-execution condition storing part has an expiration date, and invalidates the role when the expiration date has come.

18. An agent collaboration system according to claim 1, wherein the LABEL information has an expiration date, and a message having the LABEL information is ignored in each agent when the expiration date has come.

19. An agent collaboration system according to claim 1, whereon the virtual communication channel has an expiration date, and the virtual communication channel is self-destroyed when the expiration date has come.

20. An agent collaboration system according to claim 1, wherein an unauthorized access detecting part for detecting unauthorized access to the virtual communication channel is provided on the virtual communication channel or the agent, and

as a result of that unauthorized access to the virtual communication channel is detected by the unauthorized access detecting part, each agent cancels connection to the virtual communication channel, thereby dynamically eliminating the virtual communication channel.

21. An agent collaboration system according to claim 1, wherein each agent receives a request for destruction of the virtual communication channel from either one of the agents on the virtual communication channel, and cancels connection to the virtual communication channel, thereby dynamically eliminating the virtual communication channel.

22. A method for using a production wherein an agent collaboration system is used as a service platform, which connects agents to each other through a virtual communication channel, controls the virtual communication channel based on a policy that is a collection of rules containing a rule representing a relationship between attributes of the agent and a role assigned in accordance with the attributes, and defines an operation of the agents on the virtual communication channel by assigning a role in accordance with the attributes of the agents based on the policy,

the policy defines the virtual communication channel dealing with contents,

the role assigned in accordance with the policy is a use role for using the contents, and

a use of the contents by agents other than those having the use role on the virtual communication channel is disabled.

23. A method for using a production according to claim 22, wherein the contents are distributed in accordance with an attached policy,

a user that obtains the contents with authorization generates a second virtual communication channel in accordance with the attached policy, and the contents are used on the second virtual communication channel based on the use role.

25. A production use system according to claim 24, wherein the contents are distributed in accordance with an attached policy,

a user that obtains the contents with authorization generates a second virtual communication channel in accordance with the attached policy, and

a reproduction method that can be used based on the use role is provided on the second virtual communication channel.

26. A production use system according to claim 25, wherein the attached policy is related to committed distribution of the contents, and the user that obtains the contents with authorization generates a second virtual communication channel for distribution of the contents in accordance with the attached policy, and redistributes the contents.

27. A production use system according to claim 26, wherein the attached policy contains a rule related to payment of a copyright fee to a copyright holder of the contents.

24. A production use system wherein an agent collaboration system is used as a service platform, which connects agents to each other through a virtual communication channel, controls the virtual communication channel based on a policy that is a collection of rules containing a rule representing a relationship between attributes of the agent and a role assigned in accordance with the attributes, and defines an operation of the agents on the virtual communication channel by assigning a role in accordance with the attributes of the agents based on the policy,

the policy defines the virtual communication channel dealing with contents,

the role assigned in accordance with the policy is a use role for using the contents,

a use of the contents by agents other than those having the use role on the virtual communication channel is disabled, and

the contents are distributed on the virtual communication channel.

28. A method for conducting inter-agent collaboration through a virtual communication channel among agents present on a network, comprising:

storing a policy that is a collection of rules containing a rule representing a relationship between attributes of an agent and a role assigned in accordance with the attributes, and assigning a role in accordance with the attributes of each agent based on the policy;

holding/storing the assigned role and conditions for executing contents of the role;

executing corresponding contents of a role in a case where execution conditions for the contents of the role are satisfied; and

allowing the agents to collaborate with each other through the virtual communication channel based on the policy.

29. A computer-readable recording medium storing a processing program for realizing an agent collaboration system through a virtual communication channel among agents present on a network, the program comprising:

storing a policy that is a collection of rules containing a rule representing a relationship between attributes of an agent and a role assigned in accordance with the attributes, and providing a role in accordance with the attributes of each agent based on the policy;

holding/storing the assigned role and conditions for executing the contents of the role;

executing corresponding contents of a role in a case where the conditions for executing the contents of the role are satisfied; and

controlling the virtual communication channel so that each agent exchanges a message in accordance with the assigned role based on the policy.

30. A virtual communication channel for brokering collaboration among agents present on a network, which is controlled based on a policy that is a collection of rules containing a rule representing a relationship between attributes of an agent and a role assigned in accordance with the attributes, allows each agent to have a role in accordance with the attributes thereof based on the policy, and virtually connects the operating agents to each other based on the policy, and brokers collaboration of each agent through execution of the contents of the role.