A Nueral Network-Based Mobile Architecture for Mobile Agents

Wide area network (WAN) offers advantages like providing myriad services available on globally diversified computers with reasonably simple process. The ability to dynamically create networks offers the processing powers of various processors at our command. With the advent of protocols like SOAP and Web services, the consumption of services are more organized. In spite of various advances in communication techniques, the consumption of services through mobile gadgets is still only at the research level. The major impedances in implementing such systems on a mobile network are the latency factor, abrupt disconnection in service, lower bandwidth and minimal processing power. The mobile agent’s paradigm proves to be an effective solution to various issues raised. It has received serious attention in the last decade and several systems based on this paradigm have been proposed and built. All such systems have been designed for a static network, where the service providers and the requestors are connected to the server on a permanent basis. This chapter presents a new framework of managing the mobile environment and the participating nodes with active intelligent migration. The functioning of the mobile agents in such a scenario is also presented.

Database Queries in Mobile Environments

The technological evolution of networks together with the development of positioning systems has contributed to the emergence of numerous location-based services. Services related to this expanding area will become of major technical as well as economical interest in the coming few years. This aroused a great deal of interest from the scientific community at large and specifically from those studying these services and their diverse requirements and constraints. One of the direct consequences in the database field is the appearance of new types of queries (mobile queries issued from mobile terminals and/or requesting information associated with moving objects such as vehicles). Our objective in this chapter is to present a comprehensive survey of the field of research work related to mobile queries, with particular attention to the location issue.

The Evaluation of Wireless Devices Used by Staff at Westmead Hospital, Sydney

This chapter reports on a study to research and evaluate the use of latest generation wireless devices—typically personal digital assistant devices (PDAs)—by clinical staff at the large Westmead Hospital located in the west of Sydney, Australia. Currently, medical reports in this and other hospitals are primarily recorded on paper supported by personal computers at nursing stations. However, there is very little or no access to medical reports and decision-making tools for medical diagnosis at the patient’s bedside—the precise location at which most medical decision-making occurs. Delays in access to essential medical information can result in an increased time taken for accurate diagnosis and commencement of appropriate medical management of patients. This chapter discusses the application of hand held devices into more powerful processing tools connected to a centralised hospital data repository that can support medical applications.

Information Management in Mobile Environments Using a Location-Aware Intelligent Agent System

Recent rise in the level of comfort and demand to access various types of information using mobile devices can be attributed to the advancements in wireless as well as Internet technologies. This demand leads us to the new era of mobile computing. Location-based services (LBS) are engendering new passion in mobile services utilizing users’ location information. Such spatio-temporal information processing entails the need for a dynamic middleware that accurately identifies changing user location and attaches dependent content in real-time without putting extra burden on users. Our work focuses on creating a distributed infrastructure suitable to support such scalable content dissemination. As a result this chapter offers a conceptual framework, location-aware intelligent agent system (LIA) in integration with publish/subscribe middleware to comprehensively address dynamic content dissemination and related issues. We discuss the operational form of our framework in terms of PUSH and PULL strategies.

Emerging Mobile Technology and Supply Chain Integration

This chapter explores how a mobile tracking technology is able to further streamline the integrated supply chain. Previous technologies which have attempted to integrate suppliers, manufactures, distributors and retailers have lacked the flexibility and efficiency necessary to justify the prohibiting costs. Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology however enables various organizations along the supply chain to share information regarding specific products and easily remotely manage internal inventory levels. These applications are only a sample of what RFID is able to accomplish for the integrated supply chain, and this chapter seeks to explore those applications.

Mobile Computing - An Enabler in International Financial Services

Information and telecommunication technologies are the major stimulus for changes in trade and commerce. Recent convergence of the above technologies has become possible due to the rapid advancements made in the respective technology. This convergence is termed as information and communication technology (ICT) and considered as a new discipline. The new discipline has made cross border commerce in the present globalization scenario a reality. This chapter talks about a model for financial services sector in international market under the new discipline. The model explains the creation of knowledge based financial services system incorporating the sophisticated concepts of information technology. Further, it provides an access to the system with devices which can be used under wireless communication environment, across the globe.

Mobile GIS - Challenges and Solutions

This chapter focuses on Mobile GIS (MGIS), which uses wireless networks and small screen mobile devices (such as PDAs and smartphones) to collect or deliver real time, location specific information and services. Such services can be divided into field and consumer (location based services) GIS applications. The use of wireless networks and small screen devices, introduce a series of challenges, not faced by desktop or wired internet GIS applications. This chapter discusses the challenges faced by mobile GIS (e.g. small screen, bandwidth, positioning accuracy, interoperability, etc.) and the various means of overcoming these problems, including the rapid advances in relevant technologies. Despite the challenges, many efficient and effective Mobile GIS applications have been developed, offering a glimpse of the potential market.

Factors Influencing Segmentation and Demographics of Mobile-Customers

This chapter addresses important factors for consideration when readying a mobile commerce business for global business, addressing both regional differentiation in demographics that influence classifications of customer segments, and differentiation in demographics within a region. Globally, not all customer segments have regular access to mobile commerce facilities, and even for those that do, other demographic factors can impede their potential as mobile-customers. When starting from an Anglo-centric perspective, it is vital to have awareness of global differences in culture, language, payment options, time zones, legal restrictions, infrastructures, product needs, and market growth that could either improve or inhibit mobile-customer uptake, and in the worst case, result in unexpected litigation.

Business Process Mobility

This chapter introduces the concept of business process mobility. Mobility in this case refers to the ability of a human resource to work from multiple locations and in non-office environments; business process mobility involves enabling that resource to carry out specific aspects of a business process while mobile. It attempts to explain where and how mobile enabling processes and systems can benefit. The chapter argues the need for redesigning business processes to support mobility instead of simply adding mobile systems. It further attempts to explore the approach for analyzing and redesigning processes to support mobility. The author also hopes to provide an understanding of mobile systems and their role in enterprise mobility. The chapter touches upon the essentials of mobility strategy and concludes by discussing key contents for a business case for mobile enabling business processes.

Intelligent Product Brokering Services

Agent-based system has great potential in the area of m-commerce and a lot of research has been done on making the system intelligent enough to personalize its service for users. In most systems, user-supplied keywords are normally used to generate a profile for each user. In this chapter, a design for an evolutionary ontology-based product-brokering agent for m-commerce applications has been proposed. It uses an evaluation function to represent the user’s preference instead of the usual keyword-based profile. By using genetic algorithms, the agent tries to track the user’s preferences for a particular product by tuning some of the parameters inside this function. A Java-based prototype has been implemented and the results obtained from our experiments look promising.