Mobile agent standards and available platforms

This paper examines the current status of standardization efforts concerning mobile agent technology and presents five Java-based mobile agent platforms. Standards directly relating to mobile agent technology are presented first, followed by an overview of other standardization efforts that while not directly relating to mobile agent technology, can still contribute significantly to its success. This is followed by a detailed presentation of five Java-based mobile agent platforms. The description of each platform examines its communication mechanisms, its architecture and the services that it offers to a developer. The presentation of the platforms ends with a comparative overview of their features accompanied by a brief presentation of some performance results. The paper concludes with some general remarks on the future of this technology.