Mobile Agent Technology and Networked Reconfigurable Embedded Devices

摘要

Current and future high performance embedded devices demand a broad range of customer services. Physical size constraints often inhibit the amount of resources (e.g. memory, hardware) that can be placed on a device. These limitations can adversely affect both device performance and the ability to support diverse applications. Networked reconfigurable computing systems can provide application flexibility whilst also maintaining high-performance levels. This paper proposes an architectural framework which incorporates agent technology and field programmable gate array (FPGA) resources for networked embedded devices. This innovative approach results in the coherent distribution of hardware-software based solutions to networked devices. An agent-based methodology is a scalable solution which encourages embedded devices to be adaptive and to work towards their customer requirements. Agent technology provides the ideal environment for embedded systems management. The purpose of this work is to focus directly on the composition of a distributed system which utilizes agent technology to provide a framework for the distribution of hardware-software based applications to embedded devices. An experimental prototype is presented highlighting the benefits of this approach.