Distributed agent software system and method having enhanced process mobility and communication in a computer network

A distributed software system for use with a plurality of computer machines connected as a network, the system comprising:

• a plurality of bases, each base providing a local address space and computer resources on one of a plurality of computer machines;
• at least one agent comprising a protection domain, wherein the protection domain of the at least one agent resides on at least one of the plurality of bases;
• a plurality of objects contained within the protection domain of the at least one agent, a first object residing on a first base of the plurality of bases and a second object residing on a second base of the plurality of bases, wherein the first object on the first base may access the second object on the second base without knowledge of the physical address of the second object on the second base, wherein the access by the first object of the second object is a method call specifying at least one of an argument and a return value, wherein a symbolic reference to the at least one argument or return value may be passed to or returned from the called method to identify the at least one argument or return value, and wherein the physical address of the at least one argument or return value need not be passed to or returned from the called method to identify the at least one argunent or return value so as to render the method call network transparent;
• and
• at least one runtime system connected to the first base and the second base, the at least one runtime system facilitating migration of agents and objects from at least the first base to at least the second base.

A distributed software system for use with a plurality of computer machines connected as a network, the system comprising:

• at least one agent comprising a protection domain, wherein the protection domain of the at least one agent resides on at least two of the plurality of computer machines;
• and
• a plurality of objects contained within the protection domain of the at least one agent, the objects being selectively movable among the at least two computer machines by a programmer of the system, a first object residing on a first of the at least two computer machines and a second object residing on a second of the at least two computer machines, wherein the first object on the first computer machine may access the second object on the second computer machine without knowledge of the physical address of the second object on the second computer machine, and regardless of the selective movement of either the first object or the second object among the first and second computer machines, and wherein the access by the first object of the second object is a method call specifying at least one of an argument and a return value, wherein a symbolic reference to the at least one argument or return value may be passed to or returned from the called method to identify the at least one argument or return value, and wherein the physical address of the at least one argument or return value need not be passed to or returned from the called method to identify the at least one argument or return value so as to render the method call network transparent.

A distributed software system for use with a plurality of computer machines connected as a network, the system comprising:

• a plurality of bases, each base providing a local address space and computer resources on one of the plurality of computer machines;
• at least one agent residing on a first base and comprising a protection domain, wherein the protection domain of the at least one agent resides on at least one of the plurality of bases;
• at least one object residing within the protection domain of the at least one agent and including at least one anchored object, the at least one anchored object being instantiated on the first base from a base-dependent class and which is permanently unable to be moved from the first base to any other base;
• and
• at least one runtime system connected to the plurality of bases, the at least one runtime system including a communication system which facilitates migration of agents and objects among the plurality of bases.

A distributed software system for use with a plurality of computer machines connected as a network, the system comprising:

• a plurality of bases, each base providing a local address space and computer resources on one of the plurality of computer machines;
• at least one agent comprising a protection domain, wherein the protection domain of the at least one agent resides on at least one of the plurality of bases;
• at least one object residing within the protection domain of the at least one agent;
• at least one runtime system connected to the plurality of bases, the at least one runtime system including a communication system which facilitates migration of agents and objects among the plurality of bases;
• a first method calling protocol for calling, from a first base, a method to a first object residing on a second base, wherein the method is transmitted from the first base to the second base and wherein the method is executed on the second base where the first object resides;
• and
• a second method calling protocol for calling, from the first base, a method to a second object residing on the second base, wherein the method is executed on the first base using method code on the first base corresponding to the second object method and a remote reference to the second object on the second base.

A method for implementing a network-centric computer software programming system for a network comprising a plurality of computer machines, the method comprising the steps of:

• defining a plurality of object-oriented classes including an object class, an agent class, a base class and a task class;
• defining an object migrate method in the object class that migrates a selected object instance to a location specified with the base class;
• defining an agent migrate method in the agent class that migrates a selected agent process to a location specified with the base class, including migration of all object instances and task instances within the agent;
• instantiating a first agent process according to the agent class, the first agent process including a plurality of task instances and object instances and distributed among the plurality of computer machines;
• performing the object migrate method and the agent migrate method within the first agent process;
• instantiating a first base and a second base according to the base class;
• instantiating a task according to the task class on the first base;
• instantiating an object according to the object class on the second base, the object having a method;
• and
• defining a method calling protocol wherein calling, from the task on the first base, the method of the object on the second base includes executing the method on the first base using method code on the first base corresponding to the object method and a remote reference to the object on the second base.

A method for implementing a network-centric computer software programming system for a network comprising a plurality of computer machines, the method comprising the steps of:

• defining a plurality of object-oriented classes including an object class, an agent class, a base class and a task class;
• defining an object migrate method in the object class that migrates a selected object instance to a location specified with the base class;
• defining an agent migrate method in the agent class that migrates a selected agent process to a location specified with the base class, including migration of all object instances and task instances within the agent;
• instantiating a first agent process according to the agent class, the first agent process including a plurality of task instances and object instances and distributed among the plurality of computer machines;
• performing the object migrate method and the agent migrate method within the first agent process;
• instantiating a first base according to the base class;
• instantiating a second agent process according to the agent class, the second agent process residing at least in part on the first base;
• instantiating an anchored object from a base-dependent object class, the anchored object being associated with a second agent process located on a first base specified with a base instance and being unable to be moved to other bases;
• and
• defining an agent migrate method in the agent class that migrates the second agent process to another base specified with a base instance, including migration of all task instances and object instances within the second agent process except for the anchored object.

A method for implementing a network-centric computer software programming system for a network comprising a plurality of computer machines, the method comprising the steps of:

• defining a plurality of object-oriented classes including an object class, an agent class, a base class and a task class;
• defining an object migrate method in the object class that migrates a selected object instance to a location specified with the base class;
• defining an agent migrate method in the agent class that migrates a selected agent process to a location specified with the base class, including migration of all object instances and task instances within the agent;
• instantiating a first agent process according to the agent class, the first agent process including a plurality of task instances and object instances and distributed among the plurality of computer machines;
• performing the object migrate method and the agent migrate method within the first agent process;
• instantiating a first base according to the base class;
• instantiating a second agent process according to the agent class, the second agent process residing at least in part on the first base;
• instantiating a first object according to the object class, the first object residing within the second agent process;
• pinning the first object to the first base;
• and
• defining an agent migrate method in the agent class that migrates the second agent process from the first base to another base specified with the base class, including migration of all task instances and object instances within the second agent process except for the pinned first object.

A method for implementing a network-centric computer software programming system for a network comprising a plurality of computer machines, the method comprising the steps of:

• defining a plurality of object-oriented classes including an object class, an agent class, a base class and a task class;
• defining an object migrate method in the object class that migrates a selected object instance to a location specified with the base class;
• defining an agent migrate method in the agent class that migrates a selected agent process to a location specified with the base class, including migration of all object instances and task instances within the agent;
• instantiating a first agent process according to the agent class, the first agent process including a plurality of task instances and object instances and distributed among the plurality of computer machines;
• performing the object migrate method and the agent migrate method within the first agent process;
• instantiating a first base and a second base according to the base class;
• instantiating a task according to the task class on the first base;
• instantiating an object according to the object class on the second base, the object having a method;
• and
• defining a method calling protocol wherein calling, from the task on the first base, the method of the object on the second base includes transmitting the method from the first base to the second base and executing the method on the second base.

A distributed software system for use with a plurality of computer machines connected as a network, the system comprising:

• a plurality of bases, each base providing a local address space and computer resources on one of the plurality of computer machines;
• at least one agent residing on a first base and comprising a protection domain, wherein the protection domain of the at least one agent resides on at least one of the plurality of bases;
• at least one object residing within the protection domain of the at least one agent and including at least one pinned object which is temporarily unable to be moved from the first base to any other base;
• and
• at least one runtime system connected to the plurality of bases, the at least one runtime system including a communication system which facilitates migration of agents and objects among the plurality of bases.