Information Systems Distributed for Mobile Agents (SIDAM)

Abstract

The goal of project SIDAM (Distributed Information Systems for Mobile Agents) is to study the main issues involved in the implementation of distributed information services to be accessed by mobile agents, to investigate existing methods, technologies and algorithmsand to create new ones for solving untackled problems. For that, a general model has been proposed as an integrator of the several research areas involved, namely: distributed systems, performance analysis, fault tolerance, software architecture, databases and knowledge representation. The construction of this model was motivated by a real-life application: an on-line service providing traffic information in a bigcity such as São Paulo. However, we expect the model to be generic enough to be easily adaptable to a variety of applications, ranging from support systems for strategical actions to eletronic mail systems for portable computers. We plan to construct initially a simulation prototype based on that model. The proto-type will serve as a backbone reference for the research developed in the several areas listed above. Throughout the project, this backbone should be refined and we expect it to evolve into a system usable by a concrete application. Another palpable benefit arising from the project consists in the aggregation of seve-ral researchers from IME/USP into a coordinated software research group. This should strengthen software research in the Department of Computer Science at IME/USP through a stimulating, intense collaboration between the participant researchers. (AU)