Implementation of two approaches for the reliable multicast of mobile agents over wireless networks

On a multi-access wireless network, it may be required to send a mobile agent (MA) that goes on every network node to set, for instance, the radio interface to a new frequency. It needs to be done on all nodes at the same time. Instead of forcing the origin node to dispatch a separate MA to every destination node, it is better to send a single MA to a multicast address and for the agent transfer service to deliver a copy of the MA to every member of an associated group of nodes. In this type of task, reliable delivery of the MA to every node is a must otherwise the full operation of the network may not be maintained. Although, wireless networks are often characterized by relatively high error rates. We present the design and implementation of an API comprising two modules for the reliable multicasting of MAs over wireless TCP/IP networks. The two approaches are described and compared in terms of the usage they make of the bandwidth of an 802.11 type of wireless local area network.