Mobile Agents For Implementing Local Computations in Graphs

Mobile agents are a recent paradigm to facilitate the design and programming of distributed applications. However, whilst their popularity continues to grow, a uniform theory of mobile agent systems is not yet su ciently elaborated, in comparison with classical models of distributed computation. In this paper we show how to use mobile agents as an alternative model for implementing distributed local computation rules. In doing so, we approach a general and uni ed framework for local computations which is consistent with the classical theory of distributed computations based on graph relabeling systems. Key-words: Distributed algorithms, Mobile agents, Graph relabeling systems. ∗ Laboratoire d'Informatique Fondamentale de Lille (LIFL), Université de Lille 1 (USTL). Supported by the DOLPHIN inria project team. † Laboratoire Bordelais de Recherche en Informatique (LaBRI), Université Bordeaux 1 ENSEIRB, France. ‡ Department of Computer Science, University of Pretoria, South Africa in ria -0 02 73 76 5, v er si on 2 16 A pr 2 00 8 Mobile Agents For Implementing Local Computations in Graphs Résumé : Mobile agents are a recent paradigm to facilitate the design and programming of distributed applications. However, whilst their popularity continues to grow, a uniform theory of mobile agent systems is not yet su ciently elaborated, in comparison with classical models of distributed computation. In this paper we show how to use mobile agents as an alternative model for implementing distributed local computation rules. In doing so, we approach a general and uni ed framework for local computations which is consistent with the classical theory of distributed computations based on graph relabeling systems. Mots-clés : Distributed algorithms, Mobile agents, Graph relabeling systems. in ria -0 02 73 76 5, v er si on 2 16 A pr 2 00 8 Mobile Agents For Implementing Local Computations in Graphs 3