Information Agents in Database Systems as a NewParadigm for Software Developing Process.
Eva Cipi
Betim Cico
department of informatics engineering,Polytechnic University of Tirana,Tirana, Albania
Abstract
—
This work aims at giving new possible solutionscombining an information agents architecture and databasetechniques in the management of information. We consider
agents as powerful tools for handling the systems’ complexity and
very efficient to bring modularity in software development. Hereis presented a case study of an agent-based architecture which uses information agents dedicated to the specific tasks of thebusiness process management and other intelligent agents thatwill try to extract the knowledge from databases and to offerintelligent decisions.Keywords- information agent; database system; softwaredevelopment; multi-agent-based architecture;
I.
I
NTRODUCTION
This work is focused on designing a model of agent basedsystems which will bring information agents as useful tools inmanagement process of knowledge collection in order to gainmany advantages. Intelligent Agents are
used for modelingsimple rational behaviors in a wide range of distributedapplications. Intelligent agents have received various, if notcontradictory, definitions; by general consensus, they mustshow some degree of autonomy, social ability, and combine pro-active and reactive behavior [1]. First we discuss aboutsoftware agents and databases, the architectures that supporttraditional DBMS modules; and the need to integrate agenttechniques for the increase of the efficiency of knowledge. Ingeneral, Database Management Systems are known as passivesystems that become active only in response to requests fromend users or application programs. A possible approach is tomake use of the information agent technology to add a reactivecapacity to the system that enables autonomous activity andextensibility. Second we show a simulation that includes four information agents that support four different tasks takinginputs from the same source and giving solutions as suggestedmessages.II.
R
ESEARCH
O
BJECTIVES
The research tries to show the relations between the agentsand database techniques. We consider these relations veryuseful because we believe the agents make their job muchfaster and much better than other object.Several interesting questions arise in connection with thecurrent research: Can we find a good model which becomeswidely used in database applications? Can we add newservices by setting new agents without compromising the processing and time? Can we develop better solutions if we build a new model by combining agents and data mining indatabase systems? In light of these questions we started todevelop an application simulating a business environment.We will note the performance of the system by observingagent behavior. The environment is a software componentshielding the agents from details of the real world and providing the interfaces for perception, action andcommunication to the agents.[2] Modeling a softwarearchitecture is an essential step for the development of complex systems, including Multiagent Systems (MAS).[3]Ideal solution is a logical value chain with differentcomponents focused on providing the services required for handling time-variant information.[4]
III.
I
NFORMATION
A
GENTS
An “information agent” is a software agent th
at is closelytied to a source or sources of data, as opposed to being tied
closely to a human user’s goals (so called “interface agents”),
or the processes involved in carrying out an arbitrary task (so
called “task agents”).[5] In general such distinctio
ns arenecessarily part of a spectrum, but in this document we use the
term “information agent” to denote a specific class of
implemented agents with certain input/process/output behavior.[6] An information agent is an agent that has accessto at least one, and potentially many data sources, and is ableto collect and provide information obtained from these sources
in order to answer queries given by users and/or other information agents (the network of interoperating data sourcesare often referred to as intelligent and cooperative informationsystems). The data sources may be of many types, including,for example, traditional databases as well as other informationagents. Finding a solution to a query might involve an agentaccessing information sources over a network or a database.Information agent is an autonomous computational softwareentity that is especially meant to provide a proactive resourcediscovery, and to offer value-added information services and products. It is capable to provide transparent access to one or many different data sources. [7]
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(IJCSIS) International Journal of Computer Science and Information Security,Vol. 9, No. 4, April 201131http://sites.google.com/site/ijcsis/ISSN 1947-5500
Figure 1 describes the advantages of using informationagents as powerful techniques for gathering information andusing it to make good decisions in a brief time.
Figure 1. Information agent utilization advantages
IV.
A
GENTS AND
D
ATABASE
S
YSTEMS
The integration of both technologies would even increasethe complexity of the system. It would be imperative todevelop an architecture that is focused on finding one with ahigh level of abstraction that hides the complexity, with nodirect consequences. The most powerful tools for handlingthings in software development are modularity and abstraction.[8] Agents represent a powerful tool for making systemsmodular. If a problem domain is particularly complex, large, or unpredictable, then it may be that the only way it canreasonably be addressed is to develop a number of modular components that are specialized (in terms of their representation and problem solving paradigm) at solving a particular aspect of it.In such cases, when interdependent problems arise, theagents in the system must cooperate with one another to ensurethat interdependencies are properly managed. In such domains,an agent-based approach means that the overall problem can be partitioned into a number of smaller and simpler components,which are easier to develop and maintain, and which arespecialized at solving the constituent sub problems.
A.
Architectures of information agents
In the Figure 2 there are three integration architectures between agents and DBMSs: Layered, Integrated and Built-in.Each one of the three integration architectures has advantagesand disadvantages.
Figure 2. Architectures for the integration of Agent Systems and DBMS
The Layered architecture is the one implemented in most of the existing approaches. An information agent is anything thatcan be viewed as perceiving its environment through sensorsand acting upon that environment through effectors. [9] Aninformation agent is one that does the things like he perceptsthem, analyzes them and based on these it acts without
remembering his history. A question is “how do we measurethe efficiency of an agent?” Well it is very hard to make anagent to evaluate his performances. That’s why the man is the
one who establish a standard of what it means to be successfulin an environment and use it to measure the performance of agents. The used architecture puts the agent between user interface and DBMS. Users are represented by their agents inthe third layer. The purpose of the agents is to bring to the user individualized information and relevant messages as good as
possible. To adapt its owner’s information demand the agent
collects message specific relevance evaluations given by itsowner.[10] The agents communicate through messages andevaluate information giving solutions for the user. In themiddle of the system there is an executive agent that has therole to facilitate the communication between agents. It has alsothe role to evaluate the performances of other agents and toaccept or to reject the registration of an agent into the agency.V.
C
ASE STUDY OF AN AGENT BASED SYSTEM INWAREHOUSE DATABASES
For this case study we use agent based architecture andtend to adapt it to the market environment. This architectureuses information agents well defined to act and to do specificactions of information management. The particularity of thisarchitecture is the modularity: that means we can add other agents specifying the task first. They extract and offer information in real time which can be used to take advantagesto make good decisions. The intelligent systems and especiallyagent based systems can offer the needed tools for expertisestoring in a database management system.[11]The case study will show that developing an agent basedsystem on information management would be very useful. In amarket environment of relationships between products, clientsand sellers there is a continuous exchange of informationwhere the main requirement is the guarantee of the high levelof service performance.[12]
A.
DFD description
In the figure 3. we present the Data Flow Diagram of theagent based system. The system is based on database fileswhich store all the data. The agency is included in theAdministration Software.Each agent needs to perform action to discover changes in itsenvironment. The agents can percept using queries (theaction). The DBMS (data software) accesses between agentsand database repository.Through studying stakeholder requirements, we havedetected four services which the agents can cover successfully:
Expertise of selling and inventory (selling agent)
Display the changes of prizes (display agent)
Expertise order amounts (order agent)
Suggestions of prices (price agent)
(IJCSIS) International Journal of Computer Science and Information Security,Vol. 9, No. 4, April 201132http://sites.google.com/site/ijcsis/ISSN 1947-5500
Figure 3. Data Flow Diagram of the agent based system.
We divide the module of Administration Software in thesefunctionalities made by developing four independent agents.Figure 4 shows the data flow inside the system. The manager needs information in two modes: off-line and on-line. Eachactivated agent gives services and either offers suggestions on prices or makes orders by detecting alert zones for everyrecord, or creates required reports, gives supply solutions, andeven shows the points where human service is needed. For example, the visualization agent offers data to distribute in anetwork of displays taking a map of coordinates for eachid_product.
B.
The architecture.
In order to save the modularity of the system, we use thelayered architecture combined with build in architecture. Wethink this is the best choice of three architectures in order todevelop and integrate new agents without implicating thecollection of autonomous agents with a particular expertise.For example we can add a data mining agent. It can use datathat is already integrated. There are several actions that must be made before the data gets to the data mining agent. Theseactions are: data cleaning, data integration, transformation and pattern discovery. We will consider it in the future works.The algorithm in the figure 4 is used to present one of theagents: price agent. We activate the agent even though itconflicts its definition of the autonomy. The agent actscontinuously asking the value of Control_parameter if it is positive or negative. The parameter is calculated by the agentusing data gathered from the relevant records. (see formula(1)). The agent can discover its environment in a secondmanner of perception: action.[13] It sends requests to theDMBS and takes reports from the database for three variablesfrom each record:1.
Daily_average(selling[i])2.
Expiry_date[i]3.
Inventory[i]The agent offers the new price but it can not decide for anew value confirmed. Here is the end of the agent task and thehuman operator can ignore or accept the decision of the agent.The system is not completely independent because there are
many other factors that classify it as a critical system for the business.
Figure 4. Example of the price agent algorithm
The approach taken gives another agent framework and hasa number of advantages coming from the artificial intelligenceworld and standard object-oriented architectures. The adoptionof Java guarantees a widely available, well supportedexecution environment.
VI.
C
ONCLUSIONS AND
F
UTURE
W
ORK
At the end of this paper we give some consideration:
This paper presents a model of database systemarchitecture that implements benefits of using agenttechniques and database management system. In the process of studying different architectures, we havechosen the layered architecture in order to raise thelevel of abstraction.
We use unique method to develop independentinformation agents where every agent has a specifictask to complete. Agents act independently,nevertheless they can collaborate with users.
We learned that distribution of functionalities to adatabase system can be resolved very well using theinformation agent as an easy way to support databaseservices complexity.
We have developed four information agentsimplementing the required functionalities. The resultsgiven from the execution of simulation confirm the
(IJCSIS) International Journal of Computer Science and Information Security,Vol. 9, No. 4, April 201133http://sites.google.com/site/ijcsis/ISSN 1947-5500
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Information Agents in Database Systems as a New Paradigm for Software Developing Process
This work aims at giving new possible solutions combining an information agents architecture and database techniques in the management of information. We consider agents as powerful tools for handling the systems’ complexity and very efficient to…
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