Mobile Intelligent Agents for Managing the Information Infrastructure

1
ACTS Programme AC338

• Mobile Intelligent Agents for Managing the
  Information Infrastructure

2
Presentation

• Dr.-Ing. Stefan Covaci
• German National Research Center for Information
  Technology
• (GMD)
• Research Institute for Open Communication Systems
  
• (FOKUS)
• Intelligent Mobile Agent Center of Competence
• (IMA-CC)

3
General Project Information

• Duration March 1998 until February 2000
• Budget 400 man-months
• Web Site www.fokus.gmd.de/research/cc/ima/miami
• Contact Dr.-Ing. Stefan Covaci
• Project Manager
• GMD FOKUS
• e-mail covaci_at_fokus.gmd.de

4
MIAMI Project Partners

• P01 GMD FOKUS, Germany (Prime Contractor)
• P02 Alcatel Bell, Belgium
• A02A Alcatel CIT, France
• P03 University College London, UK
• A03A Imperial College of Science,
  Technology and Medicine, UK
• A03B The University of Surrey, UK
• P04 Algosystems SA, Greece
• P05 Centre de Recherche Informatique
  de Montréal (CRIM), Canada
• P06 France Télécom CNET, France
• P07 Hitachi Ltd., Japan

5
MIAMI Main Objectives

• The MIAMI project focuses on the following
  objectives
• Development and validation of a uniform mobile
  intelligent agent framework according to the
  requirements of an open European Information
  Infrastructure (EII)
• Convergence of the OMG MASIF and FIPA mobility
  specifications

6
MIAMI Main Objectives (cont.)

• Development of agent-based solutions for managing
  the open EII and provision of Advanced
  Communication and Information (ACI) services
• Contribution to standardisation
• Demonstration of results in a pan-European trial

7
MIAMI Key Issues

• Pan-European cooperative management of advanced
  telecommunications and information services
• Interaction between management systems of
  different management domains in an Electronic
  Commerce context
• Business-process-driven relationship between the
  service management layer and the network
  management layer
• Security in agent based systems (platforms and
  applications)

8
Scope of MIAMI

• The MIAMI project will focus on
• The investigation of benefits gained from the
  mobility of agent intelligence in the context of
  telecommunications management and ACI services,
  and
• Implementation and validation of the MIAMI
  framework in a pan-European test-bed with
  selected network management and ACI service
  scenarios.

9
Outside the Scope

• The MIAMI project will not focus on
• Developing and validating solutions for
  interoperability among heterogeneous agents or
  agent systems
• Developing and validating an extended agent
  communication language

10
Security in MIAMI

• MIAMI focuses on security solutions supporting
  the deployment of the MIA technology in open
  electronic commerce environments
• Authentication of agents and agencies
• Access control to agencies resources
• Secure agent interactions
• Secure agent transport

11
Current State of MIAMI

• Completed activities
• Mobile agent platforms evaluation
• Selected initial platform Grasshopper of IKV
• Agent platform enhancement requirements analysis
• Deliverable D1 (August 1998)
• Activities in progress
• Enhanced agent platform specification and design
• Application case studies
• Subsequent activities
• Platform enhancements implementation (start
  11/1998)
• Applications design and implementation (start
  01/1999)

12
MIAMI Deliverables

• The MIAMI Project will produce the following
  deliverables
• D1 Platform Enhancement Requirements 08/98
• D2 Platform Enhancement Specification 11/98
• D3 Case Studies 01/99
• D4 Case Study Prototypes 09/99

13
Technical Approach

• The MIAMI project develops
• An improved MIA platform and
• Two trial applications based on it
• The Active Virtual Pipe (AVP) and
• Demonstration of network and service management
  based on agents
• The Virtual Enterprise Builder (VEB)
• Demonstration of agent based applications and
  communication services

14
Active Virtual Pipe

• Pro-active component of the MIAMI information
  and communication infrastructure
• Provision of advanced communication and
  connectivity services in the business context
  (dynamic VPN -
  resources on demand)
• Agent based network management
• QoS management
• Fault management
• Configuration management
• Use of multiple transport network providers
• Spot market for network resources
• Provision of basic VE management services
  (generic workflow management capabilities)

15
Virtual Enterprise Builder

• Interactive tool for creation and administration
  of a VE with support for
• Finding business partners
• Negotiating among business partners
• Creating the VE contract
• Automatically configuring the AVP according to
  the contract
• Monitoring and managing VE activities (generic
  workflow management support)

16
MIAMI Enterprise Model
17
Agents in Market Place(Example)

• The virtual enterprise initiator identifies the
  business roles and the business processes.

• By the use of the VEB he activates and configures
  a match maker agent to find business partners for
  these roles ...

18
Agents in Market Place(Example)

• ...and sends the match maker agent to the virtual
  market place.

19
Agents in Market Place(Example)
Virtual Market Place

• Meanwhile Some companies/brokers have sent
  advertising agents to the VMP.

20
Agents in Market Place(Example)

• Sophisticated negotiations are possible.

21
Agents in Market Place(Example)
Virtual Market Place

• Finally, the match maker agent selects a business
  partner.

22
Agents in Market Place(Example)
Virtual Market Place

• He continues searching for other partners ...

... or goes back to present results.
23
Components of the MIAMI Framework
Virtual
Enterprise
Domain
Active
Virtual
Pipe
Provider
Domain
Virtual
Connectivity
Market
Provider
Place
Domain
Domain
24
Application of Agents in MIAMI
25
Application Fields of Agents in MIAMI

• Provision of high-level, dynamically programmable
  interfaces
• Agent-based system components
• Service and Network Management
• Resource Management
• Brokering and market place negotiations
• Contract negotiation between VE participants
• Generic Workflow Management

26
MIAMI Trial Scenario

• Real business scenario
• Creation and running of a virtual enterprise with
  distributed participants
• Demonstration of the graphical Virtual Enterprise
  Builder
• Creation and administration of VE
• Demonstration of the Active Virtual Pipe
• Provision and dynamic, role-based management of
  connectivity
• Support for administration of VE

27
MIAMI Trial Scenario (cont.)

• Virtual Euro Consulting company provides
• Interactive lectures about the Euro on demand.
• Access to a video archive.
• Access to a document archive.
• Possibility to submit papers independent of its
  language, which will be translated if necessary,
  proof-read, marked, and stored on the web server.

28
Expected Achievements

• MIAMI will clarify the potential of MIA
  technology regarding the
• Reduction of management traffic load on and
  increase of the availability of underlying
  networks
• Increase of efficiency and flexibility of the
  provisioning and execution of management
  procedures
• Reduction of prerequisite consumer knowledge for
  installation and operation of the solutions
• MIAMI will demonstrate the suitability of the MIA
  technology in electronic commerce applications
• Security services
• Transactional services (long life transactions)
• Customisation services

29
Summary

• The major goal of the MIAMI project is to develop
  a uniform mobile intelligent agent platform with
  facilities for
• Network and service management
• Security management
• Advanced communication and information services
• and validate the platform within a pan-European
  virtual enterprise trial scenario.
• MIAMI concentrates on the OMG MASIF paradigm but
  also considers integration/convergence with FIPA.
• MIAMI will contribute to the next OMG Agent
  Standard.