Using ECA rules to implement mobile query agents for fast-evolving pure P2P database systems

ABSTRACT

A challenging issue in fast-evolving pure P2P networks is the design of an appropriate mechanism for processing queries. Since both the data content of the peers as well as their acquaintances, change rapidly the typical P2P querying techniques become inappropriate. We are interested in P2P networks where peers are mobile and own a database. In this dynamic context the usage of a Mobile Agent framework appears very promising. The paper investigates the issues related to the above problem and proposes a P2P and Mobile Agent architecture based on Active Database technology. We argue that, the employment of ECA rules both for answering queries and deploying agents leads to an efficient as well as simple query processing technique. Furthermore, the proposed mobile agent system architecture offers a number of advantages due to the performance and scalability that can be achieved using Active Databases.

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Index Terms

• Information systems

  • Information retrieval