In Mobile Computing, Mobile Agents are the composition of computer software and data that can

autonomously move from one computer to another computer and continue its execution on the destination
computer.

In other words, you can say that An Mobile Agent is an autonomous program that is capable of moving from
host to host in a network and interact with resources and other agents. In this process, the chance of data loss
is scarce because the state of the running program is saved and then transported to the new host. It allows the
program to continue execution from where it left off before migration. The most significant advantage of
mobile agents is the possibility of moving complex processing functions to the location where you have
enormous amounts of data and that have to be processed.

Mobile Agents are also called as transportable agents. They are classified into two types:

o Mobile Agents with pre-defined path: They have a static migration path.

o Mobile Agents with undefined path i.e., Roamer: They have dynamic migration paths. The mobile
agents choose their path according to the present network condition.

Features of Mobile Agents

The mobile agents are autonomous with intelligence, social ability, learning, and the most important feature is
their mobility. They are independent in nature, self-driven and do not require a corresponding node for
communication. They can work efficiently even after the user gets disconnected from the network.

Intelligence

Mobile Agents are capable of learning and searching for knowledge about their domain. That's why they are
called intelligent agents because they possess a degree of domain knowledge. They can also transport their
state from one environment to another without disturbing the previous holding data and be capable of
performing appropriately in the new environment.

Autonomous

The Mobile Agents are Autonomous. It means the agents are not only motivated by the outside actions
initiated by the users or system but also they have internal events that decided their performance and
behavior. The mobile agents can also take an autonomous decision while selecting a node.

Mobility

Mobile Agents contain some degree of mobility. The agent is not limited to its home node only. They can
migrate from one node to another and can carry out tasks along with them. This feature distributes the
processing and balancing of the load. Another benefit of this capability is that when the user goes offline, the
agents will still keep functioning.

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Communicative

Mobile Agents can communicate effectively with other agents, users and systems. The mobile agents use a
communication language for inter-agent communication.

Life Cycle of Mobile Agents

The life cycle of mobile agents ensures the following conditions:

o They can adapt to the environment. For example, either home or foreign environment.

o They are capable of switching among the positions of one node to another.

o They are autonomous and focused on the final output.

The following are some advantages of mobile agents over conventional agents:

o Mobile Agents are autonomous and self-driven in nature.

o They are maintenance-friendly or easily maintainable.

o They are Fault-tolerant. It means they are able to operate without an active connection between client
and server.

o They reduce the compilation time.

o They provide less delay in the network.

o They provide fewer loads on the network.

o They facilitate parallel processing. It means they can be asynchronously executed on multiple
heterogeneous network hosts.

o They provide dynamic adaptation in which their actions are dependent on the state of the host
environment.

Disadvantages of Mobile Agents

The following are some disadvantages of mobile agents:

o The most significant disadvantage of mobile agents is their security. They are less secured

Applications of Mobile Agents

Mobile agents are used in the following applications:

o They are also in grid computing, parallel computing, distributed computing and mobile
computing etc used.

Data Synchronization in Mobile Computing

Data synchronization is a method of establishing consistency among data from a data source to the
target data storage and vice versa. In data synchronization, we have to keep multiple copies of a
dataset in coherence with one another to maintain the data integrity.

Data synchronization provides the continuous harmonization of the data over time. This is the basic
fundamental concept used in a wide variety of applications, including file synchronization and mobile
device synchronization, e.g., PDAs. It is also used in encryption for synchronizing Public Key Servers.

The requirement of Data Synchronization

Data synchronization is important and required in mobile computing because it checks the
differences between two data containers or data sources and data receivers to restrict the
unnecessary transfer of data that already resides in both data sources. The data synchronization
process typically updates both data sources by transferring only additions, changes, and deletions.
The following are the reasons why data synchronization is required in Mobile computing:

o Data synchronization is required between the mobile devices and their service provider.

o It is also required between the device and personal area computer and nearby wireless
access points (in Wi-Fi connection) and other nearby devices.

o It is used to establish consistency among data from a data source to the target data storage
and vice versa.

Example of Data Synchronization

Let's see a simple example of data synchronization:

Suppose we have added a new popular ringtone to one of the servers of a mobile service provider, so
here, data synchronization means that all the service provider servers get identical sets of ringtones.
All the devices connected to the server should be updated about the availability of the new data. The
ringtone databases available to all the mobile phones include a copy of the title of that tone.

Types of Data Synchronization in Mobile Computing

Following is a list of different types of data synchronization techniques used in mobile computing:

o Two-way data synchronization (partial or full copies of data)

o Server-alerted synchronization

o One-way server-initiated synchronization

o The client-initiated refresh synchronization

o Client-initiated synchronization

o Refresh from the client for backup and update synchronization

Two-way data synchronization (partial or full copies of data)

The Two-way data synchronization is done between mobile-devices and personal area computers.
For example, whenever any of them from the list of contacts and data of personal information
manager is modified, the two ways data synchronization is used to make them consistent.

The Server-alerted synchronization

In server-alerted synchronization, the server alerts the client whenever the data is modified or
added. After getting the alert message, the client synchronizes the modified or new data by pull the
request. For example, data is modified on the device after getting the alert new email.

One-way server-initiated synchronization

In one-way server-initiated synchronization, the server initiates synchronization after getting any
modification and sends the copies of modified data to the client. For example, when a new email
arrives at a server or when the device connects to the server and pushes the mail, it initiates the
synchronization.

The client-initiated refresh synchronization.

In client-initiated refresh synchronization, the client initiates synchronization with the server to
refresh its existing copies of data and refresh the configuration parameters saved at the server. For
example, a computer or mobile device initiates refreshing of the stocked contacts and personal
information data either at periodic intervals or when it connects to the server. When the device
configuration changes or a new device connects to a server, the configuration parameters sent earlier
refresh at the server.

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Client-initiated synchronization

In client-initiated refresh synchronization, the client initiates synchronization with the server to
refresh its existing copies of data and refresh the configuration parameters saved at the server. For
example, a computer or mobile device initiates refreshing of the stocked contacts and personal
information data either at periodic intervals or when it connects to the server. When the device
configuration changes or a new device connects to a server, the configuration parameters sent earlier
refresh at the server.

Client-initiated synchronization

In client-initiated synchronization, the client initiates synchronization when the data is available at
the server or periodic intervals when it connects to the server. For example, a client mobile device
initiates synchronization of the mails or new ring tones or music files when it gets availability at the
server either or at periodic intervals when it connects to the server.