Remote configuration of intelligent software agents

• US 20050177792A1
• Filed: 03/31/2003
• Published: 08/11/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Kugel, Jacob, Dunbar, Anthony M., Awe, Jeffrey T., Bigus, Joseph P., Schlosnagle, Donald A., Hintermeister, Gregory R.
• Granted Patent: US 7,925,984 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/740
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/046 comprising network management agents or mobile agents therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0806 for initial configuration or provisioning, e.g. plug-and-play
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0879 Manual configuration through operator
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/22 comprising specially adapted graphical user interfaces [GUI]

Abstract

The present invention generally relates to intelligent software agents. Each agent has an associated user interface panel through which the agent may be configured/customized. A remotely located user desiring to configure a particular agent issues a request for the associated user interface panel. The user interface panel may be provided to the user via, for example, a network connection. The user may then make the desired changes to the agent via the user interface panel. In this way, remote configuration of an agent is possible.

Claims

1. A method of presenting a user interfaces for customizing intelligent software agents, comprising:

receiving an agent customization panel request from a remotely located client; and

transmitting panel information to the client, wherein the panel information defines a user interface panel capable of being rendered at a site of the client, and wherein the user interface panel provides a plurality of agent customization elements for customizing one or more intelligent software agents remotely located relative to the client.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, user-selected agent customization input, wherein the user-selected agent customization input was input via the user interface panel by a user at the site of the client; and

configuring an intelligent software agent according to the user-selected agent customization input.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the panel information comprises transmitting a customizer panel definition describing a layout of the user interface panel and a panel resource bundle describing elements of the user interface panel.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising, prior to transmitting, generating the panel information.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising, prior to transmitting, retrieving the panel information from a storage location.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the agent customization panel request is specific to a particular intelligent software agent and further comprising, prior to transmitting, generating the panel information based on a state of the particular intelligent software agent at a time the agent customization panel request is received.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising, subsequent to transmitting:

receiving, user-selected agent customization information, wherein the user-selected agent customization information was input via the user interface panel by a user at the site of the client; and

configuring an intelligent software agent according to the user-selected agent customization input.

30. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving and transmitting are performed via a network connection.

8. A method of providing an interface for customization of intelligent software agents on a computer remotely located relative to the intelligent software agents, comprising:

requesting an agent customization panel from a remotely located system;

in response to the request, receiving agent customization panel information from the remotely located system; and

displaying a user interface panel defined by the received agent customization panel information, wherein the user interface panel provides a plurality of agent customization elements for customizing one or more remotely located intelligent software agents.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the agent customization panel request is specific to a particular one of the remotely located intelligent software agents and wherein the panel information is generated at the remotely located system based on a state of the particular intelligent software agent at a time the agent customization panel request is processed by the remotely located system.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the agent customization panel information is specific to a particular one of the remotely located intelligent software agents.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising transmitting the user-selected agent customization input to the remotely located system, wherein the user-selected agent customization input is used to customize the particular one of the remotely located intelligent software agents.

12. The method of claim 8, further comprising receiving user-selected agent customization input via the displayed user interface panel.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising transmitting the user-selected agent customization input to the remotely located system, wherein the user-selected agent customization input is used, to customize the one or more remotely located intelligent software agents.

14. A computer readable medium containing a program which, when executed, performs a panel presentation operation, comprising:

receiving an agent customization panel request issued by a remotely located client;

preparing panel information defining a user interface panel capable of being rendered and displayed at a site of the client, and wherein the user interface panel provides a plurality of agent customization elements for customizing one or more intelligent software agents remotely located relative to the client; and

transmitting the panel information to the client.

15. The computer readable medium of claim 14, wherein the steps of receiving, preparing and transmitting are performed by an intelligent software agent.

16. The computer readable medium of claim 14, further comprising:

receiving user-selected agent customization input, wherein the user-selected agent customization input was input via the user interface panel by a user at the site of the client; and

configuring an intelligent software agent according to the user-selected agent customization input.

17. The computer readable medium of claim 14, wherein transmitting the panel information comprises transmitting a customizer panel definition describing a layout of the user interface panel and a panel resource bundle describing elements of the user interface panel.

18. The computer readable medium of claim 14, further comprising, prior to transmitting, generating the panel information.

19. The computer readable medium of claim 14, further comprising, prior to transmitting, retrieving the panel information from a storage location.

20. The computer readable medium of claim 14, wherein the agent customization panel request is specific to a particular intelligent software agent and further comprising, prior to transmitting, generating the panel information based on a state of the particular intelligent software agent at a time the agent customization panel request is received.

21. The computer readable medium of claim 20, further comprising, subsequent to transmitting:

receiving user-selected agent customization information, wherein the user-selected agent customization information was input via the user interface panel by a user at the site of the client; and

configuring an intelligent software agent according to the user-selected agent customization input.

31. The computer readable medium of claim 14, wherein the agent customization panel request is received via a network and wherein the panel information is transmitted via the network.

22. A computer, comprising:

a network connection allowing communication with a plurality of clients; and

a user interface provider configured to present an agent customization panel to one or more of the plurality of clients in response to a request received from the one of clients, wherein the agent customization panel provides at least one user-selectable agent customization element for customizing one or more intelligent software agents.

23. The computer of claim 22, wherein the one or more intelligent software agents are resident on the computer.

24. The computer of claim 22, wherein the user interface provider is an intelligent software agent.

25. The computer of claim 22, wherein the user interface provider is configured to generate the agent customization panel upon receiving the request from the client.

26. The computer of claim 22, wherein the user interface provider is configured to generate the agent customization panel based on a state of a particular intelligent software agent at a time the request is received.

27. The computer of claim 22, wherein the user interface provider is configured to retrieve the agent customization panel from a storage location upon receiving the request from the client.

28. The computer of claim 22, wherein the user interface provider is configured to receive, via the network connection, user-selected agent customization information, input via the agent customization panel while being displayed at a site of the one or more of the clients, the user-selected customization information describing customizations applicable to the one or more intelligent software agents.

29. The computer of claim 28, wherein the user interface provider is an intelligent software agent.