Agent system and information processing method for same

• US 20030050960A1
• Filed: 09/09/2002
• Published: 03/13/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 04/13/1998
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: Kawamura, Takahiro, Ohsuga, Akihiko, Hasegawa, Tetsuo, Irie, Yutaka, Tahara, Yasuyuki, Kase, Naoki
• Granted Patent: US 6,662,207 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/202
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4875 with migration policy, e.g. auction, contract negotiation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/34 involving the movement of software or configuration parameters network booting or remote initial program loading [RIPL] G06F9/4416
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

A system smoothly performing information processing is realized by dynamically making a decision, when it becomes necessary for an agent currently located at a platform to make use of another platform, with regard to whether to cause the agent to move to the other platform or cause the agent to cooperate with another agent that exists at the other platform. The dynamic decision is made in response to situations, resulting in enabling the unified utilization of mobile and stationary agents. The decision of using either movement or cooperation is typically made based on platform information and agent information. Even if planning changes the plan of an agent and regardless of what agent is using which platform'"'"'s resources, it is possible to easily establish whether movement or cooperation is to be used, based on the platform profile and agent attributes. Such a system can perform information processing in response to changing situations.

Claims

1. A computer-readable storage medium storing a program for performing information processing by causing an agent to act in a network that has a plurality of platforms, said program comprising:

means for causing a computer to make a decision, when an agent currently located at a platform needs to make use of another platform, whether to cause the agent to move to the other platform or cause the agent to cooperate with another agent that exists at the other platform, based on at least one of a platform profile and an agent profile;

means for causing a computer to cause the agent to move to the other platform when such a decision has been made;

means for causing a computer to cause the agent to cooperate with the other agent that exists at the other platform when such a decision has been made; and

means for causing a computer to manage at least one of said platform profile which represents information that is used as a basis for a judgment with regard to agent movement for each platform and that includes information with regard to whether each of the platforms can accept a transferred agent and support the operation of the agent, and said agent profile which represents information that is used as a basis for a judgment with regard to movement for each agent and that includes information with regard to whether each of the agents has the ability to move between platforms,

wherein said platform profile, for each platform, represents information that includes at least one item selected from a group consisting of;

a) whether a function to cause agent movement exists;

b) whether reliability of a network circuit related to the platform is high or low;

c) whether it is possible to have an agent exist indefinitely;

d) what types of actions are recognized for an agent;

e) what types of programming languages can be executed;

f) whether the platform will mainly manage processing for agent movement;

g) what types and quantities of resources are to be provided;

h) what types of agents exist;

i) what services are to be provided; and

,

j) from when until when is action to be done.

2. A computer-readable storage medium storing a program for performing information processing by causing an agent to act in a network that has a plurality of platforms, said program comprising:

means for causing a computer to make a decision, when an agent currently located at a platform needs to make use of another platform, whether to cause the agent to move to the other platform or cause the agent to cooperate with another agent that exists at the other platform, based on at least one of a platform profile and an agent profile;

means for causing a computer to cause the agent to move to the other platform when such a decision has been made;

means for causing a computer to cause the agent to cooperate with the other agent that exists at the other platform when such a decision has been made; and

means for causing a computer to manage at least one of said platform profile which represents information that is used as a basis for a judgment with regard to agent movement for each platform and that includes information with regard to whether each of the platforms can accept a transferred agent and support the operation of the agent, and said agent profile which represents information that is used as a basis for a judgment with regard to movement for each agent and that includes information with regard to whether each of the agents has the ability to move between platforms,

wherein said agent profile, for each agent, represents information that includes at least one item selected from a group consisting of;

a) whether the agent has the ability to move between platforms;

b) whether processing for agent movement is to be done mainly by the agent;

c) what types and quantities of resources are required by the agent;

d) from when until when is action to be done;

e) in what programming language the agent action is to be described; and

f) what types of services are required by the agent.

3. A computer-readable storage medium storing a program for performing information processing by causing an agent to act in a network that has a plurality of platforms, said program comprising:

means for causing a computer to make a decision, when an agent currently located at a platform needs to make use of another platform, whether to cause the agent to move to the other platform or cause the agent to cooperate with another agent that exists at the other platform, based on at least one of a platform profile and an agent profile;

means for causing a computer to cause the agent to move to the other platform when such a decision has been made;

means for causing a computer to cause the agent to cooperate with the other agent that exists at the other platform when such a decision has been made;

means for causing a computer to manage at least one of said platform profile which represents information that is used as a basis for a judgment with regard to agent movement for each platform and that includes information with regard to whether each of the platforms can accept a transferred agent and support the operation of the agent, and said agent profile which represents information that is used as a basis for a judgment with regard to movement for each agent and that includes information with regard to whether each of the agents has the ability to move between platforms;

means for causing a computer to generate an agent plan that satisfies a given request;

means for causing a computer to cause an agent to act by causing the agent to execute the generated agent plan.;

means for causing a computer to store information required for agent action;

means for causing a computer to cause an agent at a platform either to move to another platform or to cooperate with another agent at another platform;

means for causing a computer to store knowledge requirement for generation of said agent plan, said movement, and said cooperation; and

means for causing a computer to manage said knowledge.

4. A computer-readable storage medium storing a program for performing information processing by causing an agent to act in a network that has a plurality of platforms, said program comprising:

means for causing a computer to make a decision, when an agent currently located at a platform needs to make use of another platform, whether to cause the agent to move to the other platform or cause the agent to cooperate with another agent that exists at the other platform, based on at least one of a platform profile and an agent profile;

means for causing a computer to cause the agent to move to the other platform when such a decision has been made;

means for causing a computer to cause the agent to cooperate with the other agent that exists at the other platform when such a decision has been made;

means for causing a computer to manage at least one of said platform profile which represents information that is used as a basis for a judgment with regard to agent movement for each platform and that includes information with regard to whether each of the platforms can accept a transferred agent and support the operation of the agent, and said agent profile which represents information that is used as a basis for a judgment with regard to movement for each agent and that includes information with regard to whether each of the agents has the ability to move between platforms; and

means for causing a computer to handle an exception that occurs when an agent is to be moved between platforms, wherein said means for causing a computer to handle the exception comprises;

means for causing a computer to store exception descriptions representing what type of handling is to be done for what type of exception; and

means for causing a computer to handle an exception, based on one of said exception descriptions.

5. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 4, wherein said one of said exception descriptions represents what type of handling is to be done for at least one exception selected from a group consisting of:

(1) an exception that an agent cannot be moved occurs because communication with a platform that has been specified as the movement destination has failed;

(2) an exception that an agent cannot be moved because the movement destination specification is invalid;

(3) an exception that an agent cannot be moved because the platform specified as the movement destination does not have a section configured to accept the agent and causing the agent to act; and

(4) an exception that an agent cannot be moved because of insufficient resources at the platform specified as the movement destination.

6. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 4, wherein said one of said exception descriptions includes:

information with regard to which of a plurality of communication circuits have a low reliability; and

information that represents what type of handling is to be done with respect to an exception that can occur when an agent is moved between platforms through a low-reliability communication circuit.

7. A computer-readable storage medium storing a program for performing information processing by causing an agent to act in a network that has a plurality of platforms, said program comprising:

means for causing a computer to make a decision, when an agent currently located at a platform needs to make use of another platform, whether to cause the agent to move to the other platform or cause the agent to cooperate with another agent that exists at the other platform, based on at least one of a platform profile and an agent profile;

means for causing a computer to cause the agent to move to the other platform when such a decision has been made;

means for causing a computer to cause the agent to cooperate with the other agent that exists at the other platform when such a decision has been made;

means for causing a computer to manage at least one of said platform profile which represents information that is used as a basis for a judgment with regard to agent movement for each platform and that includes information with regard to whether each of the platforms can accept a transferred agent and support the operation of the agent, and said agent profile which represents information that is used as a basis for a judgment with regard to movement for each agent and that includes information with regard to whether each of the agents has the ability to move between platforms; and

said means for causing a computer to make the decision further comprising means for causing a computer to make a judgment as to whether to move an agent immediately when the agent is to be moved to another platform.

8. A computer-readable storage medium storing a program for performing information processing by causing an agent to act in a network that has a plurality of platforms, said program comprising:

means for causing a computer to make a decision, when an agent currently located at a platform needs to make use of another platform, whether to cause the agent to move to the other platform or cause the agent to cooperate with another agent that exists at the other platform, based on at least one of a platform profile and an agent profile;

means for causing a computer to cause the agent to move to the other platform when such a decision has been made;

means for causing a computer to cause the agent to cooperate with the other agent that exists at the other platform when such a decision has been made;

means for causing a computer to manage at least one of said platform profile which represents information that is used as a basis for a judgment with regard to agent movement for each platform and that includes information with regard to whether each of the platforms can accept a transferred agent and support the operation of the agent, and said agent profile which represents information that is used as a basis for a judgment with regard to movement for each agent and that includes information with regard to whether each of the agents has the ability to move between platforms; and

said means for causing a computer to make the decision further comprising means, when there exist a plurality of platform candidates for the movement destination, for causing a computer to select a platform from said plurality of candidates to which the movement is made.

9. A computer-readable storage medium storing a program for performing information processing by causing an agent to act in a network that has a plurality of platforms, said program comprising:

means for causing a computer to make a decision, when an agent currently located at a platform needs to make use of another platform, whether to cause the agent to move to the other platform or cause the agent to cooperate with another agent that exists at the other platform, based on at least one of a platform profile and an agent profile;

means for causing a computer to cause the agent to move to the other platform when such a decision has been made;

means for causing a computer to cause the agent to cooperate with the other agent that exists at the other platform when such a decision has been made;

means for causing a computer to manage at least one of said platform profile which represents information that is used as a basis for a judgment with regard to agent movement for each platform and that includes information with regard to whether each of the platforms can accept a transferred agent and support the operation of the agent, and said agent profile which represents information that is used as a basis for a judgment with regard to movement for each agent and that includes information with regard to whether each of the agents has the ability to move between platforms; and

said means for causing a computer to make the decision further comprising means, when an agent is to be moved to a plurality of platforms in sequence, for causing a computer to determine the sequence of the platforms to which the agent is to be moved.

10. A computer-readable storage medium storing a program for performing information processing by causing an agent to act in a network that has a plurality of platforms, said program comprising:

means for causing a computer to make a decision, when an agent currently located at a platform needs to make use of another platform, whether to cause the agent to move to the other platform or cause the agent to cooperate with another agent that exists at the other platform, based on at least one of a platform profile and an agent profile;

means for causing a computer to cause the agent to move to the other platform when such a decision has been made;

means for causing a computer to cause the agent to cooperate with the other agent that exists at the other platform when such a decision has been made;

means for causing a computer to manage at least one of said platform profile which represents information that is used as a basis for a judgment with regard to agent movement for each platform and that includes information with regard to whether each of the platforms can accept a transferred agent and support the operation of the agent, and said agent profile which represents information that is used as a basis for a judgment with regard to movement for each agent and that includes information with regard to whether each of the agents has the ability to move between platforms;

means for causing a computer to make a judgment as to whether to cause an agent at the platform to move to another platform or to cause another agent at the other platform to move to the platform; and

means for causing a computer to indicate a result of the judgment to the agent to be moved.

11. A computer program for performing information processing by causing an agent to act in a network that has a plurality of platforms, said program comprising:

means for causing a computer to make a decision, when an agent currently located at a platform needs to make use of another platform, whether to cause the agent to move to the other platform or cause the agent to cooperate with another agent that exists at the other platform, based on at least one of a platform profile and an agent profile;

means for causing a computer to cause the agent to move to the other platform when such a decision has been made;

means for causing a computer to cause the agent to cooperate with the other agent that exists at the other platform when such a decision has been made;

means for causing a computer to manage at least one of said platform profile which represents information that is used as a basis for a judgment with regard to agent movement for each platform and that includes information with regard to whether each of the platforms can accept a transferred agent and support the operation of the agent, and said agent profile which represents information that is used as a basis for a judgment with regard to movement for each agent and that includes information with regard to whether each of the agents has the ability to move between platforms.

12. The computer program according to claim 11, wherein said platform profile, for each platform, represents information that includes at least one item selected from a group consisting of:

a) whether a function to cause agent movement exists;

b) whether reliability of a network circuit related to the platform is high or low;

c) whether it is possible to have an agent exist indefinitely;

d) what types of actions are recognized for an agent;

e) what types of programming languages can be executed;

f) whether the platform will mainly manage processing for agent movement;

g) what types and quantities of resources are to be provided;

h) what types of agents exist;

i) what services are to be provided; and

,

j) from when until when is action to be done.

13. The computer program according to claim 11, wherein said agent profile, for each agent, represents information that includes at least one item selected from a group consisting of:

a) whether the agent has the ability to move between platforms;

b) whether processing for agent movement is to be done mainly by the agent;

c) what types and quantities of resources are required by the agent;

c) from when until when is action to be done;

e) in what programming language the agent action is to be described; and

f) what types of services are required by the agent.

14. The computer program according to claim 11, further comprising:

means for causing a computer to generate an agent plan that satisfies a given request;

means for causing a computer to cause an agent to act by causing the agent to execute the generated agent plan.;

means for causing a computer to store information required for agent action;

means for causing a computer to cause an agent at a platform either to move to another platform or to cooperate with another agent at another platform;

means for causing a computer to store knowledge required for generation of said agent plan, said movement, and said cooperation; and

means for causing a computer to manage said knowledge.

15. The computer program according to claim 11, further comprising:

means for causing a computer to handle an exception that occurs when an agent is to be moved between platforms, wherein said means for causing a computer to handle the exception comprises;

means for causing a computer to store exception descriptions representing what type of handling is to be done for what type of exception; and

means for causing a computer to handle an exception, based on one of said exception descriptions.

16. The computer program according to claim 15, wherein said one of said exception descriptions represents what type of handling is to be done for at least one exception selected from a group consisting of:

(1) an exception that an agent cannot be moved occurs because communication with a platform that has been specified as the movement destination has failed;

(2) an exception that an agent cannot be moved because the movement destination specification is invalid;

(3) an exception that an agent cannot be moved because the platform specified as the movement destination does not have a section configured to accept the agent and causing the agent to act; and

(4) an exception that an agent cannot be moved because of insufficient resources at the platform specified as the movement destination.

17. The computer program according to claim 15, wherein said one of said exception descriptions includes:

information with regard to which of a plurality of communication circuits have a low reliability; and

information that represents what type of handling is to be done with respect to an exception that can occur when an agent is moved between platforms through a low-reliability communication circuit.

18. The computer program according to claim 11, said means for causing a computer to make the decision further comprising means for causing a computer to make a judgment as to whether to move an agent immediately when the agent is to be moved to another platform.

19. The computer program according to claim 11, said means for causing a computer to make the decision further comprising means, when there exists a plurality of platform candidates for the movement destination, for causing a computer to select a platform from said plurality of candidates to which the movement is made.

20. The computer program according to claim 11, said means for causing a computer to make the decision further comprising means, when an agent is to be moved to a plurality of platforms in sequence, for causing a computer to determine the sequence of the platforms to which the agent is to be moved.

21. The computer program according to claim 11, further comprising:

means for causing a computer to make a judgment as to whether to cause an agent at the platform to move to another platform or to cause another agent at the other platform to move to the platform; and

means for causing a computer to indicate a result of the judgment to the agent to be moved.