Virtual communication channel and virtual private community, and agent collaboration system and agent collaboration method for controlling the same
First Claim
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 an attribute of an agent and a role assigned in accordance with the attribute, the policy being used to define a virtual communication channel;
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, said role assignment part specifying 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;
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 when execution conditions for the contents of the role are satisfied,wherein the agent communicates with other agents through the virtual communication channel defined based on the policy; and
an authentication entity provided on the virtual communication channel adapted to authenticate access rights of each agent to the virtual communication channel and contents of a role held by the role-execution condition holding part of each agent, said authentication entity being divided into;
a policy approving authority issuing a policy certification for certifying that a policy is an authentic one, based on an electronic signature provided to data describing the policy;
an attribute authority issuing an attribute certification for certifying attributes of each agent; and
a certification authority issuing a public key certification for certifying that an agent on the network has been authenticated, each agent including a trust engine for interpreting the policy certification and the attribute certification.
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Accused Products
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.
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Citations
27 Claims
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1. An agent collaboration system for connecting agents to each other through a virtual communication channel, each agent on the virtual communication channel comprising:
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a policy storing part for storing a policy that is a collection of rules containing a rule representing a relationship between an attribute of an agent and a role assigned in accordance with the attribute, the policy being used to define a virtual communication channel; 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, said role assignment part specifying 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; 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 when execution conditions for the contents of the role are satisfied, wherein the agent communicates with other agents through the virtual communication channel defined based on the policy; and an authentication entity provided on the virtual communication channel adapted to authenticate access rights of each agent to the virtual communication channel and contents of a role held by the role-execution condition holding part of each agent, said authentication entity being divided into; a policy approving authority issuing a policy certification for certifying that a policy is an authentic one, based on an electronic signature provided to data describing the policy; an attribute authority issuing an attribute certification for certifying attributes of each agent; and a certification authority issuing a public key certification for certifying that an agent on the network has been authenticated, each agent including a trust engine for interpreting the policy certification and the attribute certification. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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9. An agent collaboration system for connecting agents to each other through a virtual communication channel, each agent on the virtual communication channel, comprising:
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a policy storing part for storing a policy that is a collection of rules containing a rule representing a relationship between an attribute of the agent and a role assigned in accordance with the attribute; 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 pad for executing corresponding contents of a role in a case where the execution conditions for the contents of the role are satisfied, and wherein the agents collaborate with each other through the virtual communication channel based on the policy, an authentication entity is provided on the virtual communication channel and the authentication entity 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, the authentication entity 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 pad 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. - View Dependent Claims (10)
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22. An agent collaboration method for brokering information communication among agents present on a network, comprising, in each agent on the virtual communication channel:
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storing a policy that is a collection of rules containing a rule representing a relationship between an attribute of an agent and a role assigned in accordance with the attribute, and assigning a role in accordance with the attributes of each agent based on the policy, the policy being used to define a virtual communication channel; specifying appropriate contents of a role to be assigned to agents, based on the policy and the attribute of the agents distributed on the network; storing the assigned role and conditions for executing contents of the role; executing corresponding contents of a role when execution conditions for the contents of the role are satisfied; allowing the agents to communicate with other agents through the virtual communication channel defined based on the policy; authenticating access rights of each agent to the virtual communication channel and contents of a role; issuing a policy certification for certifying that a policy is an authentic one, based on an electronic signature provided to data describing the policy; issuing an attribute certification for certifying attributes of each agent; and issuing a public key certification for certifying that an agent on the network has been authenticated, each agent including a trust engine for interpreting the policy certification and the attribute certification.
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23. A computer-readable recording medium storing a processing program for causing a computer to execute a method for brokering information communication among agents present on a network, comprising:
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storing a policy that is a collection of rules containing a rule representing a relationship between an attribute of an agent and a role assigned in accordance with the attribute, and providing a role in accordance with the attributes of each agent based on the policy and the policy being used to define a virtual communication channel; specifying appropriate contents of a role to be assigned to agents, based on the policy and the attribute of the agents distributed on the network; storing the assigned role and conditions for executing the contents of the role; executing corresponding contents of a role when the conditions for executing the contents of the role are satisfied; controlling the defined virtual communication channel so that each agent exchanges a message with other agents in accordance with the assigned role based on the policy; authenticating access rights of each agent to the virtual communication channel and contents of a role; issuing a policy certification for certifying that a policy is an authentic one, based on an electronic signature provided to data describing the policy; issuing an attribute certification for certifying attributes of each agent; and issuing a public key certification for certifying that an agent on the network has been authenticated, each agent including a trust engine for interpreting the policy certification and the attribute certification.
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24. A virtual communication channel for brokering information communication among agents present on a network, which is controlled based on a policy that defines a virtual communication channel and 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, wherein the channel:
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specifies appropriate contents of a role to be assigned to agents, based on the policy and the attribute of the agents distributed on the network; allows each agent to have a role in accordance with the attributes thereof based on the policy, and virtually connects the operating agents to other agents based on the policy through the virtual communication channel defined; brokers collaboration of each agent through execution of the contents of the role; authenticates access rights of each agent to the virtual communication channel and contents of a role; issues a policy certification for certifying that a policy is an authentic one, based on an electronic signature provided to data describing the policy; issues an attribute certification for certifying attributes of each agent; and
issues a public key certification for certifying that an agent on the network has been authenticated, each agent including a trust engine for interpreting the policy certification and the attribute certification.
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25. A virtual private community provided by a virtual communication channel for brokering information communication 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, wherein said channel:
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specifies appropriate contents of a role to be assigned to agents, based on the policy and the attribute of the agents distributed on the network; 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; authenticates access rights of each agent to the virtual communication channel and contents of a role; issues a policy certification for certifying that a policy is an authentic one, based on an electronic signature provided to data describing the policy; issues an attribute certification for certifying attributes of each agent; and issues a public key certification for certifying that an agent on the network has been authenticated, each agent including a trust engine for interpreting the policy certification and the attribute certification.
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26. A method of connecting agents of a network with each other through a virtual communication channel, comprising:
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assigning each of the agents a role in accordance with a corresponding attribute of each agent and based on policy information including rules representing a relationship between the corresponding attribute of each agent and the role assigned in accordance with the attribute, specifying appropriate contents of a role to be assigned to agents, based on the policy and the attribute of the agents distributed on the network, the policy being used to define a virtual communication channel; dynamically connecting the agents to each other based on the policy information through the virtual communication channel defined, where contents of the corresponding role assigned to the agents is executed when execution conditions of the respective role is satisfied; authenticating access rights of each agent to the virtual communication channel and contents of a role; issuing a policy certification for certifying that a policy is an authentic one, based on an electronic signature provided to data describing the policy; issuing an attribute certification for certifying attributes of each agent; and issuing a public key certification for certifying that an agent on the network has been authenticated, each agent including a trust engine for interpreting the policy certification and the attribute certification.
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27. A method of connecting agents of a network via a virtual communication channel, comprising:
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defining a virtual communication channel for generating a virtual community among a selected number of the agents based on a role assigned to the agents and policy information including rules representing a relationship between attributes of the agents; specifying appropriate contents of a role to be assigned to agents, based on the policy and the attribute of the agents distributed on the network; connecting the selected number of agents to each other and exchanging information between the agents in the virtual community using the defined virtual communication channel; authenticating access rights of each agent to the virtual communication channel and contents of a role; issuing a policy certification for certifying that a policy is an authentic one, based on an electronic signature provided to data describing the policy; issuing an attribute certification for certifying attributes of each agent; and issuing a public key certification for certifying that an agent on the network has been authenticated, each agent including a trust engine for interpreting the policy certification and the attribute certification.
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Specification