B2B magics: a mobile agent-based internet commerce system for B2B e-commerce

摘要

In this paper, we present a Business-to-Business (B2B) Mobile AGent-based Internet Commerce System (MAGICS) that combines the advantages of centralized processing and of distributed management, allowing buyers and sellers to develop their own systems to manage their mobile agents in a distributed manner yet also allowing these agents to interact with each other in a centralized marketplace using Extensible Markup Language (XML)-based messages. We have also investigated a related inventory control application for B2B MAGICS and formulated a Markov decision model, which determines how an agent should make procurements under certain dynamic conditions so as to maximize profits. We have developed a prototype to show the basic functions of B2B MAGICS as a stock control application. In the prototype, the agents can be controlled through a Web/WAP interface or Short Messaging Service (SMS). Finally, we present analytical results to evaluate the effectiveness of the stock control algorithm.