The Integration of heterogeneous applications through Plug-and Play

In this paper, we discuss an effort to develop a multi-agent architecture through which heterogeneous applications communicate and cooperate by means of plug-and play mechanism. Three componets are created in order to challenge the plug-and-play mechanism : meta-information, PnP agent module, and ICM. The meta- information is used to automatically set up a suitable configuration for a new plugged application, eliminating the need for direct addressing among heterogeneous applications. The PnPagent module is a homogeneous controller that operates on an application to ensure that its activities are coordin ated with those of the others within the community, provides a homogeneous communication envelope for all heterogeneous applications. The combination of these three components is used to meet the desire for implementing the plug-and-play mechanism. In this distributed, open architecture, one should be able to simply plug in a new application and it should work