Distributed agent environment: Application and performance

A mobile environment is characterized by low communication bandwidth and poor network connectivity. Accessing web documents in a mobile environment is thus both inefficient and ineffective. To combat for the low bandwidth problem, we employ the multi-resolution transmission and browsing mechanism for web documents, in which a web document is partitioned into multiple units, to enable a mobile client to explore the more content-bearing portion earlier. To combat for the poor network connectivity problem, we utilize a mobile agent model in the distributed agent environment (DAE). A mobile agent has the capability of migrating to a base station that is currently serving a mobile client, establishing a virtual connection to the client. The agent, acting on behalf of the client, travels along the wired network to carry out its tasks and collect results, returning to the client at the end of its itinerary. We have implemented the DAE architecture, which supports mobile agent in a mobile environment, and demonstrated its usefulness in supporting our multi-resolution mechanism. We have also conducted experimental study, comparing performance between conventional mobile client/server model and different mobile agent models in accessing a database server through both wireless and wired networks.