Generative Mobile Agent Migration in Heterogeneous Environments

Abstract

Agent migration, in theory, makes it possible to bring computations to the resources required. In practice, however, homogeneity in programming language and/or agent platform is required. This paper presents an approach that supports heterogeneous agents and platforms: agents written in different languages can migrate between non-identical platforms. Instead of migrating the code (including data and state) of an agent, a blueprint of an agent's functionality is transferred (together with its state). An agent factory on the receiving platform generates new code on the basis of this blueprint. This approach of generative mobility not only has implications for interoperability but also for security, as discussed in this paper.