A Middleware is the software that assists an application to interact or communicate with other applications, networks, hardware, and/or operating systems. We have earlier proposed an RMI-based middleware for mobile devices called System on Mobile Devices (SyD). A middleware on mobile devices is a challenging issue, as it has to deal with problems such as limited memory, frequent disconnections, low bandwidth connection, and limited battery life. The mobile agent module fits in the context of the middleware for mobile devices as it quite naturally alleviates the above mentioned problems. Communication between devices and method invocation capabilities, among other things are carried out by employing agents. In this paper, we provide the design and implementation of an agent module for SyD. We also present practical experiences gathered from carrying out experiments on the agent module.
Praveen Madiraju, Sushil K. Prasad, Rajshekhar Sun