Gaurav Naik

Designing dependable agent systems for mobile wireless networks

A mobile ad hoc network (MANET) is a wireless network of mobile devices-such as PDAs, laptops, cell phones, and other lightweight, easily transportable computing devices-in which each node can act as a router for network traffic rather than relying on fixed networking infrastructure. As mobile computing becomes ubiquitous, MANETS becomes increasingly important. As a design paradigm, multiagent systems (MASs) can help facilitate and coordinate ad hoc-scenarios that might include security personnel, rescue workers, police officers, firefighters, and paramedics. On this network, mobile agents perform critical functions that include delivering messages, monitoring resource usage on constrained mobile devices, assessing network traffic patterns, analyzing host behaviors, and revoking access rights for suspicious hosts and agents. Agents can effectively operate in such environments if they are environment aware - if they can sense and reason about their complex and dynamic environments. Altogether, agents living on a MANET must be network, information, and performance aware. This article fleshes out how we apply this approach to populations of mobile agents on a live MANET.

Service-based computing on manets: enabling dynamic interoperability of first responders

Mobile ad hoc networks will form a critical part of the first-responder communications infrastructure. Empirical data shows how network-aware, autonomous, mobile agents can manage information services on live manet environments. A multidisciplinary team in Drexel Universitys College of Engineering has been working with local law enforcement and transportation officials to identify problems in enabling police, fire, security, and other public protectors to effectively communicate and collaborate in first-response situations. Development of the Philadelphia Area Urban Wireless Network Testbed (PA-UWNT) is part of this effort. The PA-UWNT is a mobile ad hoc network (manet) comprising mobile computers (PDAs, tablets, and laptops) and Web service-based applications. Our experience in the PA-UWNT project indicates that constructing such systems will require new research developments in computer networking, agent and service-based computing, and security that integrate each of these disciplines at several fundamental levels. In this paper, we outline part of this approach through experiments demonstrating the utility of integrating the network and agent layers and enabling agents to reason about the current operating context. We posit that autonomous agents that can reason about the networks slate and services offer an effective means of meeting the manet environments challenges.

Service-based computing for agents on disruption and delay prone networks

As computing and communication hardware becomes smaller and more powerful, computer networking is being applied to a wide array of problems and settings. The ubiquity of wireless Internet access in urban society is just one symptom of this advance. However, in many domains the nature of the network is significantly unlike that of traditional wired networking. Common assumptions regarding properties such as delay, connectivity models, and hosts often do not hold, posing many new challenges to be addressed. Two archetypical settings highlighting these are Interplanetary Internet and mobile ad-hoc networks. The network layer alone cannot resolve many of these issues---it is not possible to completely shield the application layer from factors such as long delays and frequent disconnects. Agents in these settings cannot behave as they would on a wired network and achieve similar performance. Developing effective agent-based systems for these environments therefore requires new approaches, techniques, and agent behaviors to account for these constraints.

A secure wireless agent-based testbed

Secure mobile wireless ad-hoc networks are frequently described in the technical literature as highly-desired and feasible. However only few stable and scalable physical realizations of such MANETs were actually reported. Here, we describe SWAT (a secure wireless agent-based testbed), a physical network of handheld and stationary computing nodes that provide a practical industrial-strength MANET based on IEEE standard 802.11b and agent technology. The system, using HP iPAQ units and tablet PCs, implements secure group-based applications and allows for real-time user revocation. It integrates algorithms and techniques from several proposed software libraries, including CLIQUES, spread and secure spread, SEM, IPSec, and EMAA.

ForumDash: analyzing online discussion forums

Since introducing Internet-based distance education programs in 1996, Drexel University has gained recognition as an online education leader. Remaining at the vanguard means finding innovative, automated solutions to determine which students are contributing to thoughtful discussion, helping faculty engage with online students more efficiently, and spending less time managing ever more complex Learning Management Systems (LMS). We introduce ForumDash, a BBLearn plugin for the Blackboard LMS1, designed to enhance online learning. Through its three visualization tools, ForumDash shows instructors which students are contributing, struggling, or distracted, thereby helping instructors target their efforts, save time managing online courses, and scale course tools up to the level of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). ForumDash also provides students with performance feedback, showing them whether their participation levels are satisfactory. Initial testing with two Drexel University Online courses produced positive feedback, and larger scale testing is in progress.

Demonstration: disaster evacuation support

Evacuation or sheltering of neighborhoods, cities, or regions is a major component of responding to any natural or other disaster. Poorly chosen and uncoordinated destinations can quickly overwhelm shelter capacities. Insufficient knowledge and decision processes may also lead to mismatches between evacuee needs and shelter capabilites, such as advanced medical units. Unfortunately, the intuitive and easy response of moving evacuees to the closest refuges can easily lead to this situation. This work attempts to address this problem by developing tools and techniques to help emergency personnel create a shared and accurate understanding of the situation, make the best decisions for the group, and effectively conduct disaster evacuations.