Propagating an intelligent walker agent in a network to perform a computation

An apparatus, comprising:

• one or more network interfaces to communicate with a network;
• a processor coupled to the network interfaces and configured to execute one or more processes;
• and
• a memory configured to store a process executable by the processor, the process when executed configured to:
• determine that the apparatus is incapable of performing a particular computation;
• generate an executable agent configured to perform the particular computation;
• send the executable agent to one or more other devices in the network to be propagated within the network until the executable agent is received by the one or more other devices capable of executing the executable agent, wherein the one or more other devices in the network execute the executable agent to perform the particular computation and determine a result of the particular computation;
• and
• receive the result of the particular computation from at least one of the one or more other devices in the network that execute the executable agent.

A non-transitory, computer-readable medium storing program instructions that, when executed by a device in a network to perform a process comprising:

• determining, by the device in the network, that the device is incapable of performing a particular computation;
• generating, by the device, an executable agent configured to perform the particular computation;
• sending, by the device, the executable agent to one or more other devices in the network to be propagated within the network until the executable agent is received by the one or more other devices capable of executing the executable agent, wherein the one or more other devices in the network execute the executable agent to perform the particular computation and determine a result of the particular computation;
• and
• receiving, at the device, the result of the particular computation from at least one of the one or more other devices in the network that execute the executable agent.