Affiliation:
1. University of Zaragoza, Spain
Abstract
Mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets have become very popular and together with the enhancements on mobile networks have changed the way the users interact. New applications and paradigms (such as social and collaborative networks) have appeared, and their development is now more important than ever. In this scenario, the technology of mobile software agents is an adequate option, since mobile agents can be used to overcome the difficulties and limitations of such an environment. Mobile software agents need a middleware (the agent execution platform) that allows them to exist and provides them the means to develop their potential. There exist a number of such platforms with different features but also some limitations. In this chapter, the authors discuss in detail all these questions and survey the most popular agent platforms from the point of view of their potential use in mobile environments.