Mobile agents in peer-to-peer networks

• US 8,108,455 B2
• Filed: 10/31/2002
• Issued: 01/31/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 10/31/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle America, Inc. (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Oracle America, Inc. (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Yeager, William J., Chen, Rita Y.
• Primary Examiner(s): Chankong, Dohm
• Application Number:
  US10/284,717
• Publication Number:
  US 20040088347A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,379 Days
• Field of Search: 709/202, 709/205, 709/238, 709/242, 709/243, 709/248
• US Class Current: 709/202
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/104 Peer-to-peer [P2P] networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/107 with limitation or expansion of the discovery scope
• 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]

Abstract

Embodiments of a mechanism for implementing mobile agents in peer-to-peer networks. An initiating peer may generate a mobile agent to perform one or more tasks on or gather information from other peers in the peer-to-peer network. The mobile agent may include an itinerary of peers that the mobile agent may visit. The mobile agent may be transmitted on communications channels in the peer-to-peer network to each peer on the itinerary in turn, and return to the initiating peer after visiting or attempting to visit each peer on the itinerary. In one embodiment, the mobile agent may traverse its itinerary via virtual communication channels (pipes) implemented according to a peer-to-peer platform. A mobile agent may include information identifying input pipes for each peer on its itinerary. Peers may generate and advertise input pipes for use by mobile agents.

Claims

1. A peer-to-peer network system, comprising:

an initiating peer node, comprising a processor, configured to;

generate an itinerary for a mobile agent, wherein, to generate an itinerary, the initiating peer node is configured to;

discover over the peer-to-peer network an advertisement of a unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe for each of a plurality of peer nodes in the peer-to-peer network, wherein the discovered advertisements each indicate the unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe for each corresponding peer node that is configured to receive mobile agents, wherein each unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe is generated by its corresponding peer node; and

generate the itinerary from the discovered advertisements, wherein the generated itinerary includes a list of unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipes for receiving the mobile agent, wherein each unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe corresponds to a different one of the peer nodes on the itinerary;

generate the mobile agent including the itinerary indicating the plurality of peer nodes in the peer-to-peer network to be visited by the mobile agent, wherein the mobile agent further includes a function configured to be performed at each peer node indicated by the itinerary; and

send the mobile agent to the unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe corresponding to a first peer node of the plurality of peer nodes indicated by the itinerary;

the first peer node, comprising a second processer, configured to;

receive the mobile agent via its corresponding unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe;

perform the function as indicated by the mobile agent; and

send the mobile agent to the unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe corresponding to a next peer node of the plurality of peer nodes indicated by the itinerary.

2. The peer-to-peer network system as recited in claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of peer nodes on the itinerary is configured to:

receive the mobile agent via its respective unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe;

perform the function as indicated by the mobile agent; and

send the mobile agent to the unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe of a subsequent peer node of the plurality of peer nodes indicated by the itinerary.

3. The peer-to-peer network system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the peer-to-peer network is configured to implement a peer-to-peer communication protocol for sending peer-to-peer communications to a destination peer node over the destination peer node'"'"'s corresponding unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe using a network transport protocol of the unidirectional peer-to-peer-mobile agent input pipe.

4. The peer-to-peer network system as recited in claim 1, wherein, to send the mobile agent to a next peer node of the plurality of peer nodes indicated by the itinerary, the first peer node is further configured to select a next unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe corresponding to the next peer node from the one or more unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile input agent pipes in the itinerary.

5. The peer-to-peer network system as recited in claim 1, wherein the first peer node is further configured to modify the itinerary to indicate that the mobile agent has visited the first peer node.

6. The peer-to-peer network system as recited in claim 1, wherein the initiating peer node and peer nodes indicated by the itinerary each include a mobile agent handler configured to receive and send mobile agents.

7. The peer-to-peer network system as recited in claim 1, wherein the mobile agent is configured to return to the initiating peer node after visiting all peer nodes indicated by the itinerary.

8. The peer-to-peer network system as recited in claim 1, wherein the mobile agent is configured to return to the initiating peer node before visiting all peer nodes indicated by the itinerary.

9. The peer-to-peer network system as recited in claim 1, wherein the mobile agent is configured to be sent as one or more peer-to-peer messages in the peer-to-peer network.

10. The peer-to-peer network system as recited in claim 1, wherein, to perform the function as indicated by the mobile agent, the first peer node is further configured to add data to a data payload of the mobile agent.

11. The peer-to-peer network system as recited in claim 10, wherein the initiating peer node is further configured to:

receive the mobile agent; and

extract the data payload from the mobile agent.

12. The peer-to-peer network system as recited in claim 1, wherein the plurality of nodes is configured to implement a peer-to-peer environment on the network according to a peer-to-peer platform comprising one or more peer-to-peer platform protocols for enabling the plurality of nodes to discover each other, communicate with each other, cooperate with each other to form peer groups, find and exchange codats, and send and receive mobile agents in the peer-to-peer environment, wherein each of the one or more peer-to-peer platform protocols is defined by one or more peer-to-peer platform protocol messages specific to the peer-to-peer platform protocol.

13. The peer-to-peer network system as recited in claim 1, wherein, to send the mobile agent to a next peer node of the plurality of peer nodes indicated by the itinerary, the first peer node is further configured to:

determine if the unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe corresponding to the next peer node indicated by the itinerary is available to receive the mobile agent; and

if the unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe corresponding to the next peer node indicated by the itinerary is available to receive the mobile agent, send the mobile agent to the unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe corresponding to the next peer node indicated by the itinerary.

14. The peer-to-peer network system as recited in claim 13, wherein, to send the mobile agent to a next peer node of the plurality of peer nodes indicated by the itinerary, the first peer node is further configured to:

if the unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe corresponding to the next peer node indicated by the itinerary is not available to receive the mobile agent;

select another peer node indicated by the itinerary as the next peer node on the itinerary; and

send the mobile agent to the unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe corresponding to the selected next peer node.

15. A peer node, comprising:

a processor;

a memory comprising program instructions, wherein the program instructions are executable by the processor to;

generate an itinerary for a mobile agent, wherein, to generate an itinerary, the program instructions are executable by the processor to;

discover over a peer-to-peer network an advertisement of a peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe for each of a plurality of peer nodes in the peer-to-peer network, wherein the discovered advertisements each indicate the peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe for each corresponding peer node that is configured to receive mobile agents, wherein each peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe is generated by its corresponding peer node; and

generate the itinerary for the mobile agent from the discovered advertisements, wherein the itinerary indicates the plurality of peer nodes in the peer-to-peer network to be visited by the mobile agent, wherein the itinerary further indicates the corresponding peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe for receiving the peer-to-peer mobile agent for each of the plurality of peer nodes, and wherein each peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe corresponds to a different one of the peer nodes on the itinerary;

generate the mobile agent, wherein the mobile agent indicates a function to be performed at each peer node indicated by the itinerary; and

send the mobile agent to the unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe corresponding to a first peer node on the itinerary;

wherein the mobile agent is configured to visit each of the peer nodes indicated by the itinerary and perform said function on each visited peer node.

16. The peer node as recited in claim 15, wherein the program instructions are further executable by the processor to:

receive the mobile agent from a peer node on the itinerary via its corresponding unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe, wherein the mobile agent includes a data payload generated by the function on one or more of the plurality of peer nodes indicated by the itinerary; and

extract the data payload from the mobile agent.

17. The peer node as recited in claim 15, wherein, to send the mobile agent over the unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe corresponding to the first peer node on the itinerary, the program instructions are further executable by the processor to select the unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe corresponding to the first peer node on the itinerary from the list of unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipes in the itinerary.

18. The peer node as recited in claim 15, wherein, to send the mobile agent to a first peer node on the itinerary, the program instructions are further executable by the processor to send the mobile agent as one or more peer-to-peer messages over the peer-to-peer network.

19. The peer node as recited in claim 15, wherein the peer node is configured to participate in a peer-to-peer environment with other peer nodes according to a peer-to-peer platform comprising one or more peer-to-peer platform protocols for enabling the peer nodes to discover each other, communicate with each other, cooperate with each other to form peer groups, find and exchange codats, and send and receive mobile agents to and from other peer nodes in the peer-to-peer environment, wherein each of the one or more peer-to-peer platform protocols is defined by one or more peer-to-peer platform protocol messages specific to the peer-to-peer platform protocol.

20. A peer node, comprising:

a processor;

a memory comprising program instructions, wherein the program instructions are executable by the processor to;

receive a mobile agent according to an itinerary of the mobile agent, wherein the itinerary indicates a plurality of peer nodes in a peer-to-peer network including the peer node, wherein the itinerary further indicates a list of unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipes, wherein each unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe corresponds to a different peer node on the itinerary, wherein the peer node is configured to receive the mobile agent at its corresponding unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe, and wherein the mobile agent includes a function configured to be performed at each peer node indicated by the itinerary, wherein each unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe is generated by its corresponding peer node;

perform the function of the mobile agent; and

send the mobile agent to the unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe corresponding to a next peer node indicated by the itinerary;

wherein the peer node is configured to participate in a peer-to-peer environment with other peer nodes according to a peer-to-peer platform comprising one or more peer-to-peer platform protocols for enabling the peer nodes to discover each other, communicate with each other, cooperate with each other to form peer groups, find and exchange codats, and send and receive mobile agents to and from other peer nodes in the peer-to-peer environment, wherein each of the one or more peer-to-peer platform protocols is defined by one or more peer-to-peer platform protocol messages specific to the peer-to-peer platform protocol.

21. The peer node as recited in claim 20, wherein, to send the mobile agent over one of the unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipes corresponding to the next peer node, the program instructions are further executable by the processor to select the unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe corresponding to the next peer node from the list of unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipes in the itinerary.

22. The peer node as recited in claim 20, wherein the program instructions are further executable by the processor to modify the mobile agent to indicate that the mobile agent visited the peer node.

23. The peer node as recited in claim 20, wherein, to perform the function of the mobile agent, the program instructions are further executable by the processor to store data as part of a payload of the mobile agent.

24. The peer node as recited in claim 20, wherein, to send the mobile agent to a next peer node indicated by the itinerary, the program instructions are further executable by the processor to send the mobile agent as one or more peer-to-peer messages over the peer-to-peer network.

25. A method, comprising:

an initiating peer node in a peer-to-peer network generating an itinerary for a mobile agent, wherein said generating an itinerary comprises;

discovering over the peer-to-peer network an advertisement of a unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe for each of a plurality of peer nodes in the peer-to-peer network, wherein the discovered advertisements each indicate a unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe for each corresponding peer node that is configured to receive mobile agents; and

generating the itinerary from the discovered advertisements, wherein the generated itinerary includes a list of unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipes for receiving the mobile agent, wherein each unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe corresponds to a different one of the peer nodes on the itinerary;

the initiating peer node sending the mobile agent including the itinerary indicating peer nodes to be visited by the mobile agent to the unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe corresponding to a peer node on the itinerary, wherein the mobile agent includes a function configured to be performed at each peer node indicated by the itinerary;

the peer node receiving the mobile agent via its corresponding unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe;

performing the function of the mobile agent on the peer node; and

the peer node sending the mobile agent to the unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe corresponding to a next peer node indicated by the itinerary.

26. The method as recited in claim 25, further comprising repeating said receiving, said performing, and said sending the mobile agent to a next peer node indicated by the itinerary for each peer node indicated by the itinerary.

27. The method as recited in claim 25, wherein the peer-to-peer network is configured to implement a peer-to-peer communication protocol for sending peer-to-peer communications to a destination peer node over the unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe using a network transport protocol of the unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe.

28. The method as recited in claim 25, wherein the peer node sending the mobile agent to a next peer node comprises selecting a next unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe corresponding to the next peer node from the one or more unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipes indicated by the itinerary.

29. The method as recited in claim 25, further comprising modifying the itinerary to indicate that the mobile agent has visited the peer node.

30. The method as recited in claim 25, wherein each peer node indicated by the itinerary includes a mobile agent handler configured to receive and send the mobile agent.

31. The method as recited in claim 25, wherein the mobile agent is configured to return to the initiating peer node after visiting all peer nodes indicated by the itinerary.

32. The method as recited in claim 25, further comprising the mobile agent returning to the initiating peer node before visiting all peer nodes indicated by the itinerary.

33. The method as recited in claim 25, wherein the mobile agent is sent as one or more peer-to-peer messages in the peer-to-peer network.

34. The method as recited in claim 25, wherein said performing the function comprises one or more of the peer nodes on the itinerary adding data to a data payload of the mobile agent.

35. The method as recited in claim 25, further comprising:

the initiating peer node receiving the mobile agent; and

extracting the data payload from the mobile agent.

36. The method as recited in claim 25, wherein peer nodes in the peer-to-peer network are configured to implement a peer-to-peer environment according to a peer-to-peer platform comprising one or more peer-to-peer platform protocols for enabling the peer nodes to discover each other, communicate with each other, cooperate with each other to form peer groups, find and exchange codats, and send and receive mobile agents in the peer-to-peer environment, wherein each of the one or more peer-to-peer platform protocols is defined by one or more peer-to-peer platform protocol messages specific to the peer-to-peer platform protocol.

37. The method as recited in claim 25, wherein the peer node sending the mobile agent to a next peer node indicated by the itinerary comprises:

determining if the unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe corresponding to the next peer node indicated by the itinerary is available to receive the mobile agent; and

if the unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe corresponding to the next peer node indicated by the itinerary is available to receive the mobile agent, sending the mobile agent to the unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe corresponding to the next peer node indicated by the itinerary.

38. The method as recited in claim 37, wherein the peer node sending the mobile agent to a next peer node indicated by the itinerary comprises, if the unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe corresponding to the next peer node indicated by the itinerary is not available to receive the mobile agent:

selecting another peer node indicated by the itinerary as the next peer node on the itinerary; and

sending the mobile agent to the unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe corresponding to the selected next peer node.

39. A method, comprising:

an initiating peer node in a peer-to-peer network generating an itinerary for a mobile agent, wherein said generating an itinerary comprises;

discovering over the peer-to-peer network an advertisement of a unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe for each of a plurality of peer nodes in the peer-to-peer network, wherein the discovered advertisements each indicate a unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe for each corresponding peer node that is configured to receive mobile agents, wherein each unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe is generated by its corresponding peer node; and

generating the itinerary for the mobile agent from the discovered advertisements, wherein the itinerary indicates the plurality of peer nodes in the peer-to-peer network to be visited by the mobile agent, and wherein the itinerary includes a list of unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipes for receiving the mobile agent, wherein each unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe corresponds to a different one of the peer nodes on the itinerary;

the initiating peer node generating the mobile agent, wherein the mobile agent indicates a function to be performed on peer nodes indicated by the itinerary; and

the initiating peer sending the mobile agent to the unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe corresponding to a first peer node on the itinerary;

wherein the mobile agent is configured to visit each of the peer nodes indicated by the itinerary and perform said function on each visited peer node.

40. The method as recited in claim 39, further comprising:

the initiating peer node receiving the mobile agent from a peer node on the itinerary, wherein the mobile agent includes a data payload generated by the function on one or more of the plurality of peer nodes indicated by the itinerary; and

the initiating peer node extracting the data payload from the mobile agent.

41. The method as recited in claim 39, wherein the peer-to-peer network is configured to implement a peer-to-peer communication protocol for sending peer-to-peer communications to a destination peer node over a unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe using a network transport protocol of the unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe.

42. The method as recited in claim 39, wherein said sending the mobile agent over the unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe corresponding to the first peer node on the itinerary comprises the initiating peer node selecting the unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe corresponding to the first peer node on the itinerary from the list of unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipes in the itinerary.

43. The method as recited in claim 39, wherein the initiating peer node includes a mobile agent handler for generating and sending the mobile agent.

44. The method as recited in claim 39, wherein the mobile agent is configured to return to the initiating peer node after visiting all peer nodes indicated by the itinerary.

45. The method as recited in claim 39, further comprising the mobile agent returning to the initiating peer node before visiting all peer nodes indicated by the itinerary.

46. The method as recited in claim 39, wherein the mobile agent is configured to skip peer nodes on the itinerary that are not accessible.

47. The method as recited in claim 39, wherein the mobile agent is sent as one or more peer-to-peer messages in the peer-to-peer network.

48. The method as recited in claim 39, wherein peer nodes in the peer-to-peer network are configured to implement a peer-to-peer environment according to a peer-to-peer platform comprising one or more peer-to-peer platform protocols for enabling the peer nodes to discover each other, cooperate with each other to form peer groups, communicate with each other, find and exchange codats, and send and receive mobile agents in the peer-to-peer environment, wherein each of the one or more peer-to-peer platform protocols is defined by one or more peer-to-peer platform protocol messages specific to the peer-to-peer platform protocol.

49. A method for implementing mobile agents in a peer-to-peer network, comprising:

a peer node in the peer-to-peer network receiving a mobile agent according to an itinerary of the mobile agent, wherein the itinerary indicates a plurality of peer nodes in the peer-to-peer network including the peer node, wherein the itinerary further indicates a list of unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipes, wherein each unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe corresponds to a different peer node on the itinerary, wherein the peer node is configured to receive the mobile agent at its unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe, and wherein the mobile agent includes a function configured to be performed at each peer node indicated by the itinerary, wherein each unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe is generated by its corresponding peer node;

the peer node performing the function of the mobile agent; and

the peer node sending the mobile agent to the unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe corresponding to a next peer node indicated by the itinerary;

wherein peer nodes in the peer-to-peer network are configured to implement a peer-to-peer environment according to a peer-to-peer platform comprising one or more peer-to-peer platform protocols for enabling the peer nodes to discover each other, communicate with each other, cooperate with each other to form peer groups, find and exchange codats, and send and receive mobile agents in the peer-to-peer environment, wherein each of the one or more peer-to-peer platform protocols is defined by one or more peer-to- peer platform protocol messages specific to the peer-to-peer platform protocol.

50. The method as recited in claim 49, wherein the peer-to-peer network is configured to implement a peer-to-peer communication protocol for sending peer-to-peer communications to a destination peer node over the destination peer node'"'"'s corresponding unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe using a network transport protocol of the unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe.

51. The method as recited in claim 49, wherein said sending the mobile agent to a next peer node indicated by the itinerary comprises the peer node selecting the unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe corresponding to the next peer node from the list of unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipes in the itinerary.

52. The method as recited in claim 49, wherein the peer node includes a mobile agent handler for receiving and sending the mobile agent.

53. The method as recited in claim 49, further comprising modifying the mobile agent to indicate that the mobile agent visited the peer node.

54. The method as recited in claim 49, wherein said performing the function comprises the peer node storing data as part of a payload of the mobile agent.

55. The method as recited in claim 49, wherein the next peer node initiated the mobile agent received by the peer node.

56. The method as recited in claim 49, wherein the mobile agent is sent as one or more peer-to-peer messages in the peer-to-peer network.

57. A computer-accessible non-transitory storage medium, comprising program instructions, wherein the program instructions are configured to implement:

an initiating peer node in a peer-to-peer network generating an itinerary for a mobile agent, wherein, in said generating an itinerary, the program instructions are configured to implement;

discovering over the peer-to-peer network an advertisement of a unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe for each of a plurality of peer nodes in the peer-to-peer network, wherein the discovered advertisements each indicate a unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe for each corresponding peer node that is configured to receive mobile agents, wherein each unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe is generated by its corresponding peer node; and

generating the itinerary from the discovered advertisements, wherein the generated itinerary includes a list of unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipes for receiving the mobile agent, wherein each unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe corresponds to a different one of the peer nodes on the itinerary;

the initiating peer node sending the mobile agent including the itinerary indicating peer nodes to be visited by the mobile agent to the unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile went input pipe corresponding to a peer node on the itinerary, wherein the mobile agent includes a function configured to be performed at each peer node indicated by the itinerary;

the peer node receiving the mobile agent via its corresponding unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe;

performing the function of the mobile agent on the peer node; and

the peer node sending the mobile agent to the unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe corresponding to a next peer node indicated by the itinerary.

58. The computer-accessible non-transitory storage medium as recited in claim 57, wherein the program instructions are further configured to implement repeating said receiving, said performing, and said sending the mobile agent to a next peer node indicated by the itinerary for each peer node indicated by the itinerary.

59. The computer-accessible non-transitory storage medium as recited in claim 57, wherein, in the peer node sending the mobile agent to a next peer node, the program instructions are further configured to implement selecting a next unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe corresponding to the next peer node from the one or more unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipes indicated by the itinerary.

60. The computer-accessible non-transitory storage medium as recited in claim 57, wherein the program instructions are further configured to implement the mobile agent returning to the initiating peer node after visiting all peer nodes indicated by the itinerary.

61. The computer-accessible non-transitory storage medium as recited in claim 57, wherein the program instructions are further configured to implement the mobile agent returning to the initiating peer node before visiting all peer nodes indicated by the itinerary.

62. The computer-accessible non-transitory storage medium as recited in claim 57, wherein the program instructions are further configured to implement sending the mobile agent as one or more peer-to-peer messages in the peer-to-peer network.

63. The computer-accessible non-transitory storage medium as recited in claim 57, wherein, in said performing the function, the program instructions are further configured to implement:

one or more of the peer nodes on the itinerary adding data to a data payload of the mobile agent;

the initiating peer node receiving the mobile agent; and

extracting the data payload from the mobile agent.

64. The computer-accessible non-transitory storage medium as recited in claim 57, wherein peer nodes in the peer-to-peer network are configured to implement a peer-to-peer environment according to a peer-to-peer platform comprising one or more peer-to-peer platform protocols for enabling the peer nodes to discover each other, communicate with each other, cooperate with each other to form peer groups, find and exchange codats, and send and receive mobile agents in the peer-to-peer environment, wherein each of the one or more peer-to-peer platform protocols is defined by one or more peer-to-peer platform protocol messages specific to the peer-to-peer platform protocol.

65. The computer-accessible non-transitory storage medium as recited in claim 57, wherein, in the peer node sending the mobile agent to a next peer node indicated by the itinerary, the program instructions are further configured to implement:

determining if the unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe corresponding to the next peer node indicated by the itinerary is available to receive the mobile agent; and

if the unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe corresponding to the next peer node indicated by the itinerary is available to receive the mobile agent, sending the mobile agent to the unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe corresponding to the next peer node indicated by the itinerary.

66. The computer-accessible non-transitory storage medium as recited in claim 65, wherein, in the peer node sending the mobile agent to a next peer node indicated by the itinerary, wherein the program instructions are further configured to implement, if the unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe corresponding to the next peer node indicated by the itinerary is not available to receive the mobile agent:

selecting another peer node indicated by the itinerary as the next peer node on the itinerary; and

sending the mobile agent to the unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe corresponding to the selected next peer node.

67. A computer-accessible non-transitory storage medium, comprising program instructions, wherein the program instructions are configured to implement:

an initiating peer node in a peer-to-peer network generating an itinerary for a mobile agent, wherein, in said generating an itinerary, the program instructions are configured to implement;

discovering over the peer-to-peer network an advertisement of a unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe for each of a plurality of peer nodes in the peer-to-peer network, wherein the discovered advertisements each indicate a unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe for each corresponding peer node that is configured to receive mobile agents, wherein each unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe is generated by its corresponding peer node; and

generating the itinerary for the mobile agent from the discovered advertisements, wherein the itinerary indicates the plurality of peer nodes in the peer-to-peer network to be visited by the mobile agent, wherein the itinerary further indicates the corresponding unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe for receiving the mobile agent for each of the plurality of nodes, and wherein each unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe corresponds to a different one of the peer nodes on the itinerary;

the initiating peer node generating a mobile agent, wherein the mobile agent indicates a function to be performed on peer nodes indicated by the itinerary; and

the initiating peer sending the mobile agent to the unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe corresponding to a first peer node on the itinerary;

wherein the mobile agent is configured to visit each of the peer nodes indicated by the itinerary and perform said function on each visited peer node.

68. The computer-accessible non-transitory storage medium as recited in claim 67, wherein the program instructions are further configured to implement:

the initiating peer node receiving the mobile agent from a peer node on the itinerary, wherein the mobile agent includes a data payload generated by the function on one or more of the plurality of peer nodes indicated by the itinerary; and

the initiating peer node extracting the data payload from the mobile agent.

69. The computer-accessible non-transitory storage medium as recited in claim 67, wherein, in said sending the mobile agent over the unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe corresponding to the first peer node on the itinerary, the program instructions are further configured to implement the initiating peer node selecting the unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipe corresponding to the first peer node on the itinerary from the list of unidirectional peer-to-peer mobile agent input pipes in the itinerary.

70. The computer-accessible non-transitory storage medium as recited in claim 67, wherein the program instructions are further configured to implement the mobile agent returning to the initiating peer node after visiting all peer nodes indicated by the itinerary.

71. The computer-accessible non-transitory storage medium as recited in claim 67, wherein the program instructions are further configured to implement the mobile agent returning to the initiating peer node before visiting all peer nodes indicated by the itinerary.

72. The computer-accessible non-transitory storage medium as recited in claim 67, wherein the program instructions are further configured to implement the mobile agent skipping peer nodes on the itinerary that are not accessible.

73. The computer-accessible non-transitory storage medium as recited in claim 67, wherein the program instructions are further configured to implement sending the mobile agent as one or more peer-to-peer messages in the peer-to-peer network.

74. The computer-accessible non-transitory storage medium as recited in claim 67, wherein peer nodes in the peer-to-peer network are configured to implement a peer-to-peer environment according to a peer-to-peer platform comprising one or more peer-to-peer platform protocols for enabling the peer nodes to discover each other, communicate with each other, cooperate with each other to form peer groups, find and exchange codats, and send and receive mobile agents in the peer-to-peer environment, wherein each of the one or more peer-to-peer platform protocols is defined by one or more peer-to-peer platform protocol messages specific to the peer-to-peer platform protocol.