Adaptation in a distributed environment
Koenraad Mertens, Tom Holvoet, Yolande Berbers · 2004
A non-trivial application environment is a inherent part of most multiagent systems. When a multiagent system is distributed over a number of different hosts (i.e. more than one execution environment is used), the application environment has to be distributed also. In this paper we discuss how a distributed application environment can dynamically adapt itself. Our focus is on a distributed application environment in which mobile agents move around and are aware of the distributed nature of the system. Using this knowledge, the agents try to adapt their behavior in order to exploit the characteristics of a distributed environment, giving the environment indications of which layout would make the application more effcient. We present a number of causes that can trigger the application environment to change its distribution layout.