Self-maintained distributed tuples for field-based coordination in dynamic networks

ABSTRACT

Field-based coordination is a very promising approach for a wide range of application scenarios in modern dynamic networks. To implement such an approach, one can rely on distributed tuples injected in a network and propagated to form a distributed data structure to be sensed by application agents. However, to gain the full benefits from such a coordination approach, it is important to enable the distributed tuples to preserve their structures despite the dynamics of the network. In this paper, we show how a variety of self-maintained distributed tuple structures for field-based coordination can be easily programmed in the TOTA middleware. Several examples clarify the approach, and performance data is presented to verify its effectiveness.

REFERENCES

• 1: E. Bonabeau, M. Dorigo, G. Theraulaz, "Swarm Intelligence", Oxford University Press, Oxford (UK) 1999.
• 2: Cristian Borcea , Deepa Iyer , Porlin Kang , Akhilesh Saxena , Liviu Iftode, Cooperative Computin for Distributed Embedded Systems, Proceedings of the 22 nd International Conference on Distributed Computing Systems (ICDCS'02), p.227, July 02-05, 2002
• 3: Nigel Davies , Adrian Friday , Stephen P. Wade , Gordon S. Blair, L2imbo: a distributed systems platform for mobile computing, Mobile Networks and Applications, v.3 n.2, p.143-156, Aug. 1998 [doi>10.1023/A:1019116530113]
• 4: Stefan Johansson , Alessandro Saffiotti, Using the Electric Field Approach in the RoboCup Domain, RoboCup 2001: Robot Soccer World Cup V, p.399-404, January 2002
• 5: M. Mamei, L. Leonardi, F. Zambonelli, "Co-Fields: A Unifying Approach to Swarm Intelligence", 3rd International Workshop on Engineering Societies in the Agents World, Madrid (Sp), LNAI 2577, Springer Verlag, pp. 68--81, 2003.
• 6: M. Mamei, F. Zambonelli, "Field-based Approaches to Adaptive Motion Coordination in Pervasive Computing Scenarios", Handbook of Algorithms for Mobile and Wireless Networking and Computing, CRC press, 2004. (to be published)
• 7: Marco Mamei , Franco Zambonelli , Letizia Leonardi, Distributed Motion Coordination with Co-Fields: A Case Study in Urban Traffic Management, Proceedings of the The Sixth International Symposium on Autonomous Decentralized Systems (ISADS'03), p.63, April 09-11, 2003
• 8: Marco Mamei , Franco Zambonelli , Letizia Leonardi, Tuples On The Air: A Middleware for Context-Aware Computing in Dynamic Networks, Proceedings of the 23rd International Conference on Distributed Computing Systems, p.342, May 19-22, 2003
• 9: Özalp Babaoglu , Hein Meling , Alberto Montresor, Anthill: A Framework for the Development of Agent-Based Peer-to-Peer Systems, Proceedings of the 22 nd International Conference on Distributed Computing Systems (ICDCS'02), p.15, July 02-05, 2002
• 10: Ronaldo Menezes , Robert Tolksdorf, A new approach to scalable Linda-systems based on swarms, Proceedings of the 2003 ACM symposium on Applied computing, March 09-12, 2003, Melbourne, Florida [doi>10.1145/952532.952607]
• 11: Cecilia Mascolo , Licia Capra , Stefanos Zachariadis , Wolfgang Emmerich, XMIDDLE: A Data-Sharing Middleware for Mobile Computing, Wireless Personal Communications: An International Journal, v.21 n.1, p.77-103, April 2002 [doi>10.1023/A:1015584805733]
• 12: Radhika Nagpal, Programmable self-assembly using biologically-inspired multiagent control, Proceedings of the first international joint conference on Autonomous agents and multiagent systems: part 1, July 15-19, 2002, Bologna, Italy [doi>10.1145/544741.544839]
• 13: LIME: A Middleware for Physical and Logical Mobility, Proceedings of the The 21st International Conference on Distributed Computing Systems, p.524, April 16-19, 2001
• 14: R. Poor, "Embedded Networks: Pervasive, Low-Power, Wireless Connectivity", PhD Thesis, MIT, 2001.
• 15: W. Shen, B. Salemi, P. Will, "Hormone-Inspired Adaptive Communication and Distributed Control for CONRO Self-Reconfigurable Robots", IEEE Trans. on Robotics and Automation 18(5): 1--12, 2002.
• 16: The Sims, www.thesims.com

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  D. Software
  D.3 PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES
      D.3.3 Language Constructs and Features

Additional Classification:
  C. Computer Systems Organization
  C.2 COMPUTER-COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
      C.2.4 Distributed Systems

General Terms:
Algorithms, Design

Keywords:
distributed data structures, dynamic networks, field-based coordination, mobility, tuple spaces