An integrated runtime QoS-aware middleware framework for distributed multimedia applications

Future-generation distributed multimedia applications are expected to be highly scalable to a wide variety of heterogeneous devices, and highly adaptive across wide-area distributed environments. This demands multiple stages of run-time support in QoS-aware middleware architectures, particularly, probing the performance of QoS parameters, instantiating the initial component configurations, and adapting to on-the-fly variations. However, few of the past experiences in related work have shown comprehensive run-time support in all of the above stages – they often design and build a middleware framework by focusing on only one of the run-time issues. In this paper, we argue that distributed multimedia applications need effective run-time middleware support in all these stages to be highly scalable and adaptive across a wide variety of execution environments. Nevertheless, the design of such a middleware framework should be kept as streamlined and simple as possible, leading to a novel and integrated run-time middleware platform to unify the probing, instantiation and adaptation stages. In addition, for each stage, the framework should enable the interaction of peer middleware components across host boundaries, so that the corresponding middleware function can be performed in a coordinated and coherent fashion. We present the design of such an integrated architecture, with a case study to illustrate how it is simple yet effective to monitor and configure complex multimedia applications.     

基于分布式主动代理的网络性能监测和发布系统

给出了一个新的网络性能监测和发布系统的设计。该系统的主要特点是使用了分布式主动代理技术,和传统的集中式网络性能监测系统及其它基于分布式代理技术的网络性能监测系统相比,使用分布式主动代理网络性能监测系统具有更高的安全性,数据采集的时间一致性也得到了保证。     

Autonomic configuration and recovery in a mobile agent‐based distributed event monitoring system

In this paper we present a framework for building policy‐based autonomic distributed agent systems. The autonomic mechanisms of configuration and recovery are supported through a distributed event processing model and a set of policy enforcement mechanisms embedded in an agent framework. Policies are event‐driven rules derived from the system's functional and non‐functional requirements. Agents in the network monitor the system state for policy violation conditions, generate appropriate events, and communicate them to other agents for cooperative filtering, aggregation, and handling. A set of agents perform policy enforcement actions whenever events signifying any policy violation conditions occur. Policies are defined using a specification framework based on XML. The policy enforcement agents interpret the policies given in XML. We illustrate the utility of this framework in the context of an agent‐based distributed network monitoring application. We also present an experimental evaluation of our approach. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

动态上下文环境下的实时分布式多媒体系统框架

伴随着多媒体采集和处理设备成本的不断降低,以及处理目标的不断复杂化,多媒体信息系统正朝着大规模数据分析和管理系统靠拢,因此如何有效支持实时分布式多媒体信息所需的实时采集、压缩、传输、处理、描述、反馈与存档,以及后期的浏览与检索,已经成为多媒体计算研究的重要问题。为了有效支持实时分布式多媒体信息的实时采集、传输、处理、描述、存档等的需要,在分析动态上下文环境下实时分布式多媒体系统对底层采集、压缩和传输以及信息的表达和存储的普遍需求的基础上,提出并实现了一个通用的实时分布式媒体信息处理框架,以便为实时分布多媒体系统提供基础服务支持。该框架包括软件平台和信息系统两部分。前者用于将逻辑功能与物理设备隔离开来,完成实时采集、压缩、传输和解压等功能;后者通过统一信息表达格式,将数据与特定的采集处理模块隔离开来,同时还提供了信息管理的功能,以便于用户后期检索。这两部分共同将多媒体系统所需要的实时采集、处理、压缩、描述、反馈与存档以及离线浏览与检索等服务融入一致、统一的框架中。基于该框架的会议系统的相关实验表明,该框架具有良好的开放性、可配置性和可扩展性。     

Mobile agent-enabled framework for structuring and building distributed systems on the internet

Mobile agent has shown its promise as a powerful means to complement and enhance existing technology in various application areas. In particular, existing work has demonstrated that MA can simplify the development and improve the performance of certain classes of distributed applications, especially for those running on a wide-area, heterogeneous, and dynamic networking environment like the Internet. In our previous work, we extended the application of MA to the design of distributed control functions, which require the maintenance of logical relationship among and/or coordination of proc- essing entities in a distributed system. A novel framework is presented for structuring and building distributed systems, which use cooperating mobile agents as an aid to carry out coordination and cooperation tasks in distributed systems. The framework has been used for designing various distributed control functions such as load balancing and mutual ex- clusion in our previous work. In this paper, we use the framework to propose a novel ap- proach to detecting deadlocks in distributed system by using mobile agents, which dem- onstrates the advantage of being adaptive and flexible of mobile agents. We first describe the MAEDD (Mobile Agent Enabled Deadlock Detection) scheme, in which mobile agents are dispatched to collect and analyze deadlock information distributed across the network sites and, based on the analysis, to detect and resolve deadlocks. Then the design of an adaptive hybrid algorithm derived from the framework is presented. The algorithm can dynamically adapt itself to the changes in system state by using different deadlock detec- tion strategies. The performance of the proposed algorithm has been evaluated using simulations. The results show that the algorithm can outperform existing algorithms that use a fixed deadlock detection strategy.     

Fault Management in Distributed Systems: A Policy-Driven Approach

Managing the availability and performance of a distributed system involves monitoring the behavior of the system, identifying system problems, and correcting those problems. Each of these tasks requires some expertise, such as an understanding of the mechanics of the underlying system components. As the size and complexity of these systems increases, and the number of distributed applications executing on these systems increases, managing the availability and performance of distributed systems becomes more difficult. Little research has focused on embedding systems management expertise into a management application for a distributed system. In this paper we describe a rule-based management application for a commercially available distributed computing environment that is capable of monitoring the distributed system, detecting system service-related performance and availability problems, and generating corrective actions to correct the problems.     

WCL: A co-ordination language for geographically distributed agents

In this paper a tuple space based co-ordination language, and a run-time system which supports it, is described. The co-ordination language is called WCL, and it is designed to support agent co-ordination over the Internet between agents which are geographically distributed. WCL uses tuple spaces as used in Linda. WCL provides a richer set of primitives than traditional tuple space based systems, and provides asynchronous and synchronous tuple space access, bulk tuple primitives, and streaming primitives which, as a whole, provide a complete framework more suited to co-ordination over the Internet compared with the Linda primitives. The primitives emphasise efficiency and location transparency (of data and agents) and this is exploited in the current run-time system used to support WCL. The run-time system described in this paper is distributed and uses location transparency and dynamic analysis of tuple space usage to migrate tuple spaces around the distributed system. Some initial experimental results are given which demonstrate the performance gains of using the tuple space migration. The paper motivates the inclusion of many of the primitives, and demonstrates how a well designed set of primitives provides performance and efficiency. The JavaSpace primitives are used as an example of how the choice of primitives can detrimentally affect the efficiency of the language, and exclude required co-ordination constructs.     

Enabling run-time composition and support for heterogeneous pervasive multi-agent systems

User needs-driven and computer-supported development of pervasive heterogeneous and dynamic multi-agent systems remains a great challenge for agent research community. This paper presents an innovative approach to composing, validating and supporting multi-agent systems at run-time. Multi-agent systems (MASs) can and should be assembled quasi-automatically and dynamically based on high-level user specifications which are transformed into a shared and common goal–mission. Dynamically generating agents could also be supported as a pervasive service. Heterogeneity of MASs refers to diverse functionality and constituency of the system which include mobile as well as host associated software agents. This paper proposes and demonstrates on-demand and just-in-time agent composition approach which is combined with run-time support for MASs. Run-time support is based on mission cost-efficiency and shared objectives which enable termination, generation, injection and replacement of software agents as the mission evolves at run-time. We present the formal underpinning of our approach and describe the prototype tool – called eHermes, which has been implemented using available agent platforms. Analysis and results of evaluating eHermes are presented and discussed.     

分布式监测信息系统架构设计及应用

分布式监测系统广泛应用于检测对象分散的大型工程项目,而信息系统是其中重要的组成部分．本文将信息系统分为内部信息系统和外部信息系统,内部信息系统负责数据汇集及管理,为数据库服务器系统架构设计,外部信息系统则利用原始监测数据,计算监测目标并将其呈现给用户．在内部信息系统中通过协调服务器实现现场服务器和数据服务器的有效联接,按照通用分布式监测系统功能将外部信息系统分为7个层次,针对不同监测系统构建其中具体功能模块及其关系．最后,基于该架构体系提出了分布式地铁隧道沉降监测信息系统模型,该系统也可广泛应用于其他分布式监测系统．     

WebWork: METEOR2's Web-Based Workflow Management System

METEOR₂ workflow management systems consist of both (1) design/build-time and (2) run-time/enactment components for implementing workflow applications. An enactment system provides the command, communication and control for the individual tasks in the workflow. Tasks are the run-time instances of intra- or inter-enterprise applications. We are developing three implementations of the METEOR₂ model: WebWork, OrbWork and NeoWork. This paper discusses WebWork, an implementation relying solely on Web technology as the infrastructure for the enactment system. WebWork supports a distributed implementation with participation of multiple Web servers. It also supports automatic code generation of workflow applications from design specifications produced by a comprehensive graphical designer. WebWork has been developed as a complement of its more heavyweight counterparts (OrbWork and NeoWork), with the goal of providing ease of workflow application development, installation, use and maintenance. At the time of this writing, WebWork has been installed by several of the LSDIS Lab's industrial partners for testing, evaluation and building workflow applications.