Mobile Agents for Mobile Users

In this paper we propose the use of mobile agents in the implementation of mobility support. The paper starts with a presentation of the mobile agent concept. Then, the notion of ideal user mobility is presented and followed by the current mobility support approaches. The three mechanisms used to support mobility, namely channel establishment, pre-duplication and dynamic duplication are then explained. It is then shown that the mobile agent concept is probably the most suitable concept to realize mobility support since it allows a dynamic combination of all the tmenitoned mechanisms. The paper concludes with some comments regarding the use of mobile agent concept and suggestions for future studies.