A Subscribe/ Push Framework: Periodical push with Mobile Agents

Abstract

Conventional web technology distributes information in client-server style. You have to connect to the Internet, search for what you want, and download what you find. The explosion in the number of information resources on the Web makes it diffcult for people to find what they really need. Collecting bookmarks easies the pain for search but not for the rest tedious work. The Push technology is seen as the one for taking these pains away. Though stillunder client-server model, the perspectiveis not quite the same. A client subscribes to a service once, and the server serves when necessarily. While the Push technology is prmising, the realization of it needs careful thoughts. Implementations that use multicast or broadcast techniques might worsen the network traffic further. On the other hand, mobile agents have earned the reputations as a network traffic reducing technology. They are now engaged in many application fields. The purpose of this paper is to advicate the use of mobile agents in realizing the Push technology. The main advantage of doing so is that a single mobile agent, carrying a piece of information, may visit many client sites without worsening the network traffic. This technique will ve helpful for many application areas, such as information applicances, news service, commercials, and etc. A prototype impplementation is based on the MACE (Mobile Agent Carrier Environment).Consequently, the push framework of the prototype is designed accroding to the service protocol of the MACE.