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This paper discusses methods of sending messages from a source that created a mobile agent (MA) to the MA, which has moved. These methods include the Home-Proxy method and Broadcast method. However, with these techniques, it is possible that the transmitted messages may not be delivered to an MA that is frequently moving around on the network. A method for resolving this problem has been proposed by Murphy and Picco (hereafter termed the Murphy method). Although the Murphy method can reliably deliver messages to the MA, it does not take into consideration the time that elapses until the messages are delivered to the MA. The authors propose a method for delivering messages in the shortest possible time (hereafter termed the clustering method) by partitioning the entire network into multiple areas (clusters) to improve this Murphy method. This paper, proposes the clustering method precisely and in detail. In addition, the validity of this method is certified by performing a logical verification. Simulation experiments are performed to compare the method and Murphy method to prove the effectiveness of the method by verifying that the time required to deliver messages to the MA decreases if the time that an MA stays at a node is not short and that the number of messages decreases if the time that an MA stays at a node is short. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electron Comm Jpn Pt 1, 89(1): 67–80, 2006; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley. com). DOI 10.1002/ecja.20184 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We constructed an information retrieval system using mobile agent technology and evaluated it for safety inquiry at disasters. The reason we used mobile agents is robustness against disasters and decrease of communication load. Failure, shutdown, and recovery of communication lines may occur in a large scale and high frequency at disasters, but the agent software autonomously detours or waits and brings back retrieval results. Retrieval is done from outside to inside of the stricken area. We conducted experiments using the agent method, Client/Server (C/S) method, and a combination of the two, and evaluated the results based on traffic amount and response time. We verified that information retrieval by mobile agents has robustness against disasters, and becomes more effective in order to decrease traffic on terminal lines compared with C/S method, as the number of retrievals and the number of migrated servers get larger. © 2002 Scripta Technica, Electron Comm Jpn Pt 1, 85(6): 53–63, 2002 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, attention was drawn to mobile agents that perform assigned tasks while moving around the network. Mobile agents can efficiently use network resources by moving around the network in a dynamic manner. In this paper, we propose a novel arrangement for interagent communications required for the cooperation between multiple mobile agents performing the same task. In order to support communication between multiple mobile agents, a so-called tracking agent is used that implements a seamless interagent communication so that the agents do not have to know their mutual positions and movement details. It is expected that due to mobility of the tracking agent, it will be possible to reduce delays in message transmission in the case of localized mobile agents. © 2001 Scripta Technica, Electron Comm Jpn Pt 1, 84(5): 11–20, 2001 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]