Agent Technology for Communication Infrastructures

Agent Technology is a fast growing area of research in Artificial Intelligence and Computer Science. Agents are autonomousproblem-solving entities residing in an environment able to solveproblems, roam network infrastructures, adapt to changes in theirenvironment an interact with other agents. Offering a useful snapshot of the current status of the field, thistext focuses sharply on the upcoming convergence of intelligentsoftware and communications systems. Contributions from leading authorities in the field covering awide range of issues, Demonstrates the increased capabilites of agents that are notcurrently achievable using traditional standards-based network signalling. This valuable reference resource is essential reading forresearchers or practitioners interested in applying agenttechnology or in business to develop next generation distributedapplications, as well as scientists and engineers in R & Ddepartments and lecturers and researchers in telecommunications andcomputer science.

Table of Contents:
Contributors xvii Preface xix Acknowledgements xx 1 Agent Technology for Communications Infrastructure: An Introduction 1 1.1 Introduction 1 1.2 Communications Infrastructure for Next-Generation Services 2 1.3 Agent Architectures 5 1.4 Agent Technologies 6 1.5 Summary and Following Chapters 17 1.6 References 18 2 An Agent-based Platform for Next-Generation IN Services 19 2.1 Introduction 19 2.2 What is PANI? 20 2.3 PANI Services 20 2.4 Dynamic Service Provision – Service Registration 21 2.5 Service Description and Composition Languages: SDML and SCML 21 2.6 Services Offered in the PANI Prototype 22 2.7 PANI Services – Implementation 24 2.8 PANI and WAP 28 2.9 Conclusions 30 2.10 References 30 2.11 Further Reading 31 3 Java Framework for Negotiating Management Agents 32 3.1 Introduction 32 3.2 Preliminaries 33 3.3 The Java Management Agent: JAM 36 3.4 Asynchronous Message Handling in JAM 38 3.5 Practical Experiences with Agent Applications 39 3.6 Conclusion 40 3.7 References 40 4 Adaptive QoS Management via Multiple Collaborative Agents 41 4.1 Introduction 41 4.2 Layers of Feedback Control: Individual Agent Adaptation 42 4.3 Call Preparation Adaptation: Service-Layer Feedback Controls 44 4.4 Connection Control Adaptation: NE Layer Adaptation 46 4.5 Integration of Service Management and Network Management Layer Adaptation 47 4.6 Adopting the Group Decision Support Techniques: A Committee Model 48 4.7 Modelling the Agents’ Committee 50 4.8 Learning Agents’ Collaborative Experience by ANN 52 4.9 ANN Integration with CBR Memory 53 4.10 Future Directions: Orbital Agents 54 4.11 References 58 5 Agent-Mediated Trading: Intelligent Agents and E-Business 59 5.1 Introduction 59 5.2 E-Commerce: Some Facts and Figures 60 5.3 Intelligent Information Agents in Brief 61 5.4 Agent-Based E-Trading 64 5.5 Conclusions and Outlook 73 5.6 References 74 6 Distributed Control of Connection Admission to a Telecommunications Network: Security Issues 77 6.1 Introduction 77 6.2 The Auction Mechanism for Selecting an SP 78 6.3 Security Problems 79 6.4 Security Mechanisms 81 6.5 Solving Security Problems in Auctions with an SP 84 6.6 Conclusions 87 6.7 References 88 7 Secure Payments within an Agent-Based Personal Travel Market 90 7.1 Introduction 90 7.2 An Agent-Based Personal Travel Market 91 7.3 Secure Payments 92 7.4 Architectural Integration 96 7.5 Securing Communication 99 7.6 Status Quo 100 7.8 Conclusion 100 7.9 References 101 8 Multi-Agent Solution for Virtual Home Environment 102 8.1 Introduction 102 8.2 VHE Concept 102 8.3 Requirements for Supporting VHE 103 8.4 Multi-Agent Solution 104 8.5 Agent Platform 107 8.6 Prototype System 108 8.7 Conclusion 110 8.8 References 110 8.9 Further Reading 110 9 Virtual Home Environments to Be Negotiated by a Multi-Agent System 111 9.1 Introduction 111 9.2 UMTS 112 9.3 What is Virtual Home Environment? 113 9.4 Agent Rationale 116 9.5 Intelligent Network as a Trigger to the VHE 117 9.6 Proposed Agent Architecture 118 9.7 Conclusion 119 9.8 References 120 10 Self-Adaptation for Performance Optimisation in an Agent-Based Information System 122 10.1 Introduction 122 10.2 The MoTiV-PTA System 123 10.3 A Simulation Engine for MoTiV-PTA 125 10.4 Optimisation of MoTiV-PTA with GRAIL 135 10.5 Conclusion and Future Work 142 10.6 References 142 11 Flexible Decentralised Control of Connection Admission 144 11.1 Introduction 144 11.2 The Agent Model 145 11.3 Competing Service Providers 147 11.4 Resource Management Strategies 149 11.5 Conclusion 153 11.6 References 154 12 Low-Level Control of Network Elements from an Agent Platform 156 12.1 Introduction 156 12.2 Architectural Concepts 157 12.3 Interaction with the Network Elements – the Switch Wrapper Agent 159 12.4 Interaction with End-Systems Using ATM Signalling: the Proxy User Agent.161 12.5 Running IP applications 163 12.6 Conclusions 165 12.7 References 166 13 A Multi-Agent Approach to Dynamic Virtual Path Management in ATM Networks 167 13.1 Introduction 167 13.2 Network Management 167 13.3 Problem specification 173 13.4 Intelligent Agents 175 13.5 Multi-Agent System Proposal 177 13.6 Experimental Testbed 180 13.7 Conclusions and Future Work 183 13.8 References 183 14 A Multi-Agent Approach for Channel Allocation in Cellular Networks 185 14.1 Introduction 185 14.2 A Reactive Channel Allocation Scheme Implementation and Analysis 186 14.3 The Proposed Scheme Using Intelligent Agents 189 14.4 Conclusions 195 14.5 References 195 15 Predicting Quality-of-Service for Nomadic Applications Using Intelligent Agents 197 15.1 Introduction 197 15.2 Monads Overview 198 15.3 Methods for QoS Prediction 200 15.4 Monads System Components 203 15.5 Test Results 205 15.6 Discussion 206 15.7 Conclusions 207 15.8 References 208 16 Implementation of Mobile Agents for WDM Network Management: The OPTIMA Perspective 209 16.1 Introduction 209 16.2 Future IP/WDM Networks 210 16.3 Optical Transport Network 211 16.4 Optical Agents 214 16.5 Intelligent OTN Platform 218 16.6 Conclusion and Future Work 220 16.7 References 220 17 How to Move Mobile Agents 222 17.1 Introduction 222 17.2 Defining Tours for Mobile Agents 224 17.3 Optimising Tours for Mobile Agents 228 17.4 Conclusions 232 17.5 References 232 18 Market-Based Call Routing in Telecommunications Networks Using Adaptive Pricing and Real Bidding 234 18.1 Introduction 234 18.2 Background and Motivation 236 18.3 System Architecture 237 18.4 Designing Economically Rational Agents 240 18.5 Experimental Evaluation 243 18.6 Conclusions 246 18.7 References 247 19 IN Load Control Algorithms for Market-Based Multi-Agent Systems 249 19.1 Introduction 249 19.2 Algorithms for Control of SCP Overloads 251 19.3 Market-Based Multi-Agent Systems 254 19.4 IN Load Control Using a Market-Based Solution 257 19.5 Evaluation of the Algorithms 261 19.6 Conclusions 264 19.7 References 264 20 Victor – Proactive Fault Tracking and Resolution in Broadband Networks Using Collaborative Intelligent Agents 266 20.1 Introduction 266 20.2 Background: Concert Global Managed Platform 267 20.3 Assumptions 268 20.4 Functional Objectives of Victor 269 20.5 Design and Implementation Strategy for Victor MAS 269 20.6 Victor Development Environment 271 20.7 Victor User Interface 271 20.8 Future Plans 272 20.9 Concluding Remarks 273 20.10 References 274 21 Efficient Means of Resource Discovery Using Agents 275 21.1 Introduction 275 21.2 An Outline of an Agent 275 21.3 Search Problem 275 21.4 Models and Classification 276 21.5 Single Fixed Model 277 21.6 Single Mobile Model 279 21.7 Multiple Fixed Model 282 21.8 Conclusion 286 21.9 References and Further Reading 286 22 Evolving Routing Algorithms with Genetic Programming 287 22.1 Introduction 287 22.2 The Model 288 22.3 Research Aims 290 22.4 The Java Method Evolver (JME) 291 22.5 The Experiments 291 22.6 Results 292 22.7 Discussion and Future Work 293 22.8 References 294 Index 295

About the Author :
Alex L. G. Hayzelden is the editor of Agent Technology for Communication Infrastructures, published by Wiley. Rachel A. Bourne is the editor of Agent Technology for Communication Infrastructures, published by Wiley.

Review :
"Will attract attention as one of the leading publications in the intersection between DAI and telecommunications" -Dr Steve Willmott, , EPFL, Switzerland "The work presented is original and is undertaken by leaders in the field."-Dr Stefan Poslad, , Imperial College of Science and Technology and Medicine, University of London