A multi-agent framework for intranet service integration

Networked computing has drastically changed the way in which people work and exchange information. Although the standard client-server architecture enables sharing of common resources among multiple users, it is non-trivial to share computational resources over the network. In this paper, we present a client-agent-server framework for integrating intranet services in satisfying complex informational tasks. Agents play the key role in linking individual commands into useful plans, and in transforming heterogeneous data into valuable knowledge. The agent-based approach reduces the burden of using distributed services for the end users, and fills the gap between information service providers and clients. In particular, a community of printer agents are presented to demonstrate the advantages of the proposed multi-agent framework.