Evaluation systems and methods for coordinating software agents

• US 20080127293A1
• Filed: 09/19/2006
• Published: 05/29/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 09/19/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: MEC Management, LLC (Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation, North Dakota)
• Original Assignee: Searete LLC A Limited Liability Corporation of The State of Delaware
• Inventors: Cohen, Alexander J., Mangione-Smith, William Henry, Lord, Robert W., Jung, Edward K.Y., Levien, Royce A.
• Granted Patent: US 8,984,579 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 726/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 15/16 Combinations of two or more digital computers each having at least an arithmetic unit, a program unit and a register, e.g. for a simultaneous processing of several programs coordinating program control therefor G06F9/52; in regulating and control system G05B
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/00 Security arrangements for protecting computers, components thereof, programs or data against unauthorised activity
• 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 9/00 Cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for secret or secure communications; Network security protocols

Abstract

A device, method, computer program product, and network subsystem are described for associating a first mobile agent with a first security policy and a second mobile agent with a second security policy or for providing a first agent with code for responding to situational information about the first agent and about a second agent and for evaluating a received message at least in response to an indication of the first security policy and to an indication of the second security policy or for deploying the first agent.

Claims

1-86. -86. (canceled)

87. A network subsystem comprising:

circuitry for associating a first mobile agent with a first security policy and a second mobile agent with a second security policy; and

circuitry for evaluating a received message at least in response to an indication of the first security policy and to an indication of the second security policy.

88. The network subsystem of claim 87 in which the circuitry for associating a first mobile agent with a first security policy and a second mobile agent with a second security policy comprises:

circuitry for causing the first security policy to include one or more confidentiality policies.

89. The network subsystem of claim 87 in which the circuitry for associating a first mobile agent with a first security policy and a second mobile agent with a second security policy comprises:

circuitry for activating the first security policy at least in the first mobile agent.

90. The network subsystem of claim 87 in which the circuitry for associating a first mobile agent with a first security policy and a second mobile agent with a second security policy comprises:

circuitry for causing the second security policy to include one or more integrity policies.

91. The network subsystem of claim 87 in which the circuitry for associating a first mobile agent with a first security policy and a second mobile agent with a second security policy comprises:

circuitry for associating the first security policy at least with the first mobile agent and with the second mobile agent.

92. The network subsystem of claim 87 in which the circuitry for evaluating a received message at least in response to an indication of the first security policy and to an indication of the second security policy comprises:

circuitry for evaluating the received message at least partly as a roughly contemporaneous response to receiving the indication of the first security policy.

93. The network subsystem of claim 87 in which the circuitry for evaluating a received message at least in response to an indication of the first security policy and to an indication of the second security policy comprises:

circuitry for receiving a level indicator as the indication of the first security policy or the indication of the second security policy.

94. The network subsystem of claim 87 in which the circuitry for evaluating a received message at least in response to an indication of the first security policy and to an indication of the second security policy comprises:

circuitry for requesting the indication of the first security policy.

95. The network subsystem of claim 87 in which the circuitry for associating a first mobile agent with a first security policy and a second mobile agent with a second security policy comprises:

circuitry for configuring the first mobile agent with one or more instructions able to cause the first mobile agent to transmit an indicator of the first security policy.

96. The network subsystem of claim 87 in which the circuitry for associating a first mobile agent with a first security policy and a second mobile agent with a second security policy comprises:

circuitry for configuring the second mobile agent with one or more instructions able to cause the second mobile agent to transmit at least a portion of the second security policy.

97. The network subsystem of claim 87 in which the circuitry for evaluating a received message at least in response to an indication of the first security policy and to an indication of the second security policy comprises:

circuitry for obtaining an identifier of the second mobile agent; and

circuitry for determining the indication of the second security policy responsive to the obtained identifier of the second mobile agent.

99. The network subsystem of claim 87 in which the circuitry for evaluating a received message at least in response to an indication of the first security policy and to an indication of the second security policy comprises:

circuitry for distilling from the received message at least an affirmative indication as one or more of the indication of the first security policy or the indication of the second security policy.

100. The network subsystem of claim 87 in which the circuitry for evaluating a received message at least in response to an indication of the first security policy and to an indication of the second security policy comprises:

circuitry for deciding whether to enable a triggering circuit in response to the indication of the second security policy.

101. The network subsystem of claim 87 in which the circuitry for evaluating a received message at least in response to an indication of the first security policy and to an indication of the second security policy comprises:

circuitry for transmitting a yes-or-no decision.

102. The network subsystem of claim 87 in which the circuitry for evaluating a received message at least in response to an indication of the first security policy and to an indication of the second security policy comprises:

circuitry for evaluating a signal containing the received message.

104. The network subsystem of claim 87 further comprising:

circuitry for deploying at least the first mobile agent and the second mobile agent.

105. The network subsystem of claim 87 further comprising:

circuitry for deploying at least the first mobile agent via the second mobile agent.

106. The network subsystem of claim 87 further comprising:

circuitry for deploying the first mobile agent remotely.

107. The network subsystem of claim 87 further comprising:

circuitry for deploying at least the second security policy to the first mobile agent.

108. The network subsystem of claim 87 further comprising:

one or more antennas operably coupled with the circuitry for evaluating a received message at least in response to an indication of the first security policy and to an indication of the second security policy.

109. The network subsystem of claim 87 further comprising:

one or more data storage devices operably coupled with the circuitry for evaluating a received message at least in response to an indication of the first security policy and to an indication of the second security policy.

110. The network subsystem of claim 87 further comprising:

one or more user interfaces operably coupled with the circuitry for evaluating a received message at least in response to an indication of the first security policy and to an indication of the second security policy.

111. The network subsystem of claim 87 further comprising:

one or more processor cores operably coupled with the circuitry for evaluating a received message at least in response to an indication of the first security policy and to an indication of the second security policy.

112. The network subsystem of claim 87 further comprising:

one or more power supplies operably coupled with the circuitry for evaluating a received message at least in response to an indication of the first security policy and to an indication of the second security policy.

98. (canceled)

103. (canceled)

113-139. -139. (canceled)

140. A computer program product comprising:

a signal-bearing medium bearing at least one of

one or more instructions for associating a first mobile agent with a first security policy and a second mobile agent with a second security policy; and

one or more instructions for evaluating a received message at least in response to an indication of the first security policy and to an indication of the second security policy.

141-182. -182. (canceled)

183. A network subsystem comprising:

a policy association module for associating a first mobile agent with a first security policy and a second mobile agent with a second security policy; and

an evaluation module for evaluating a received message at least in response to an indication of the first security policy and to an indication of the second security policy.

184. A network subsystem comprising:

associating circuitry for associating a first mobile agent with a first security policy and a second mobile agent with a second security policy; and

evaluation circuitry for evaluating a received message at least in response to an indication of the first security policy and to an indication of the second security policy, the evaluation circuitry including;

circuitry for requesting the indication of the first security policy;

circuitry for receiving a level indicator as the indication of the first security policy or the indication of the second security policy; and

circuitry for deciding whether to enable a triggering circuit in response to the indication of the second security policy.