Agent communication system with dynamic change of declaratory script destination and behavior

• US 6,047,311 A
• Filed: 07/14/1997
• Issued: 04/04/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 07/17/1996
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Yasukawa, Hideki, Ueno, Tsuyoshi, Ishikawa, Masato
• Primary Examiner(s): Maung, Zarni
• Assistant Examiner(s): Tran, Philip B.
• Application Number:
  US08/892,282
• Time in Patent Office: 995 Days
• Field of Search: 705/8, 709/201, 709/206, 709/202, 707/501, 707/502
• US Class Current: 709/202
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]

Abstract

The present invention provides an agent communication system, which can reduce special environment as far as possible, can interactively communicate with users, can cope with dynamic situations and can operate intelligently. The electronic mail passes through electronic mail delivery means 103 and electronic mail storage means 104. Agent mail storage means 104 recognizes an agent mail, and at its notification, scriptizing means 106 converts the mail to a script, and the script is stored in script storage means 107. Script executing means 108 executes the script and an instruction from user input means 101, and it is outputted to output means 109. Then, at a notification of the script executing means 108, electronic mail preparing means 102 prepares an electronic mail, and it is distributed to the electronic mail delivery means 103.

Claims

1. An agent communication system, comprising means for transmitting and receiving an agent, which has been turned to an electronic mail or to a transfer data, using knowledge description and behavioral description as elements, and means for identifying the agent from the received transfer data or the electronic mail and for executing the knowledge description or the behavioral description of the agent, wherein a description for dynamically changing the behavioral description or the knowledge description as behavioral description of the agent is included as said behavioral description to be transmitted and received, said knowledge description and behavioral description being declaratory, and said behavioral description being described as a style of if-then rule, said declaratory description being dynamically changeable.

3. An agent communication system according to claim 1, wherein said system comprises a function to collect information from an information source at the destination of moving as behavioral description of the agent.

5. An agent communication system according to claim 1, wherein the agent has functions to communicate with other agent or server at the destination of moving.

7. An agent communication system according to claim 1, wherein the agent being turned to an electronic mail or a transfer data comprises a plurality of agents.

9. An agent communication system according to claim 1, wherein, to an agent received and being turned to an electronic mail or a transfer data, there is provided means for expanding said agent by utilizing additional data of said agent received subsequently.

11. An agent communication system according to claim 1, wherein the agent has a function to provide a user interface in accordance with a resource at the destination of moving or with the level of the user.

13. An agent communication system according to claim 1, wherein knowledge description relating to the destination of moving is changed, and the agent determines the destination of moving according to the information.

15. An agent communication system according to claim 1, wherein the agent has a function to supply knowledge description or behavioral description when these descriptions are in shortage via network from the destination of moving as behavioral description.

2. An agent communication system, comprising electronic mail delivery means for delivering an electronic mail, electronic mail storage means for storing the delivered electronic mail, agent mail arrival recognizing means for recognizing description of an agent data from the electronic mail arrived at the electronic mail storage means, scriptizing means for extracting the agent data from the electronic mail in the electronic mail storage means at a notification from the agent mail arrival recognizing means and for converting it to a script, script storage means for storing the script, script executing means for executing the script stored in the script storage means, output means for performing output from the script executing means, and electronic mail preparing means for preparing an electronic mail from data of the script storage means and the electronic mail storage means at a notification from the script executing means and for sending the prepared electronic mail to the electronic mail delivery means, said script including declaratory knowledge description and declaratory behavioral description, said behavioral description being described as a style of if-then rule, said declaratory description being dynamically changeable.

4. An agent communication system according to claim 2, wherein there are provided a plurality of script executing means and information storage means for storing information, whereby said plurality of script executing means perform communication non-synchronously between the script executing means via input and output of information to and from said information storage means.

6. An agent communication system according to claim 2, wherein said script executing means comprises means for communicating with other server connected via the network or other script executing means in accordance with behavioral description of the agent.

8. An agent communication system according to claim 2, wherein there is provided electronic mail dividing means for dividing an electronic mail, which is stored in the electronic mail storage means and contains a plurality of agent data, and for delivering the divided electronic mails to the scriptizing means for each agent.

10. An agent communication system according to claim 2, wherein there is provided script expanding means for expanding a script being stored newly in the script storage means to a specified script stored in the script storage means.

12. An agent communication system according to claim 2, wherein there is provided user input means changing means for providing a user interface suitable for execution of the script executing means to the user input means.

14. An agent communication system according to claim 2, further comprising destination input means for adding information on new destination to information on destination of the knowledge description of the agent.

16. An agent communication system according to claim 2, wherein the script executing means acquires the knowledge description or the behavioral description when these descriptions are in shortage in the script to be executed from the general-purpose script storage means connected via the network and updates content of the script storage means.

17. An agent communication system according to claim 2, wherein there are provided electronic mail information storage means for storing information of the electronic mail received by the electronic mail delivery means and electronic mail information recognizing means for checking information in said electronic mail information storage means, whereby the script executing means selects the corresponding script from the script storage means in accordance with result of checking of the electronic mail information recognizing means and turns the script to an electronic mail and sends it to the transmitter corresponding to the result of checking.