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Mobile agents based implementation of a distance
evaluation system
Vikram Jamwal Sridhar Iyer
School of Information Technology
IIT Bombay
SAINT’2003
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Mobile agentsPrograms that can autonomously migrate amongst
nodes of a network and perform computations on behalf of a user
Client Server
Request
Response
Client/server communication
Client Server
Request
Response
Mobile agent communication
Mobile agent
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DataBase
Desktop
Server
SystemResources
Laptop
User Application Legacy Software
Execution EnvironmentMobile Agent
Service AgentApplication
Agent MigrationLocal Communication
Global Communication
Typical mobile agent frameworkTypical mobile agent framework
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Student Examination SystemExisting approaches• Computer Based Testing (CBT)
• Dynamic: different questions to diferent examinees• Adaptive: different weights to different questions• Entire database has to be present at the exam site
• Internet Based Testing Schemes• Front End: HTML forms/Applets based• Back End: CGI scripts/Servlets based• Vulnerable to network latencies
Difficult to push information to participantDifficult to handle dynamic contents
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Examination process
• Exam setting– examiners set the question papers
• Distribution and testing– question papers are presented to the students
• Evaluation and result compilation– answers are collected and results compiled
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Desirable features in DE application
• Ability to cater to all three stages of DE
• Delivery of dynamic content
• Support synchronous, off-line examination
• Support for push communication
• Ability to incorporate subjective questions
Extending client-server based implementations would be cumbersome and ineffective
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Exam setting: CS design• Requirements
– Paper Setters (PS) may want to work offline or over a long period
– PS may need to be sent notifications by the Paper Assembler (PA)
– Question Paper (QP) may need to be collected, even if incomplete
• Typical CS Design– Each PS submits a QP using a HTML form provided the PA server– PA server stores the QPs and later builds a comprehensive paper
• Drawbacks– PS may not submit QP within deadline
• PA has to use other means to send notifications to the PS
• PA cannot force-fetch the partial QP
– PS may work over an extended period of time• Client and server may get disconnected
• Partial data on the form may be lost
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PS-2
PS = Paper Setter
PS-3
PS-5PS-4
PS-1
Paper Assembler
Comprehensive Paper
= Mobile Agents
To Distribution Server
Examination setting: overviewExamination setting: overview
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NS
N-1
N-2
NS
NS
Cloning
Install Agent
GUI
Fetch Agent
Launcher
Controller GUINS = Name ServerN = Paper Setter Node
Examination setting: detailsExamination setting: details
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Dynamic Upgrade
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Distribution and testing: CS design• Requirements
– Question paper (QP) should be distributed to the centers just-in-time– QPs may contain dynamic content– Students should be offline for the duration of the examination
• Typical CS-Design– Variations of CBT or Internet based testing schemes
• Drawbacks– Server may need to maintain state information for each student
• the number of sections that have been offered
• the time elapsed
– Difficult to manage dynamic content
– Difficult to force-fetch an answer paper
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DistributionServer
Exam Center Distribution
Server
Single copy of paper
c9611060
Separate Copy per user
List of Students enrolled…
…
Each Candidate get a Copy
1
4
3
2
Answered and Returned
5
Each copy returned
Distribution and TestingDistribution and Testing
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Evaluation and result compilation: CS design
• Requirements– Different sections of an answer paper may be evaluated by different
examiners– Examiners may want to work offline or over a long period of time– Evaluation Server (ES) may need send notifications to the examiners
• Typical CS design– ES partitions each answer paper according to the different sections– ES provides forms for examiners to access the appropriate sections
and submit their evaluation– ES compiles the results and publishes them
• Drawbacks:– ES has to maintain state information for each student
• Status of evaluation of the different sections
– ES has to depend upon the examiners to pull the sections
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c9611060
Examiner B
Examiner A
Examiner D
Examiner C
Distributor
Results
……
Agents collaborate to produce the final result
Objective Questions Evaluator
Evaluation Server
Evaluation and Result CompilationEvaluation and Result Compilation
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Evaluation Server
Examiner –1
Objective Question Evaluator
Distribution Server –1
Paper Assembler
Question Paper Courier Agent
Student- 1a Student- 1b Student- 2a Student- 2b
Distribution Server –2
Result PublishingServer
Answer Paper Agent
Examiner –2
Student examination system: summaryStudent examination system: summary
PS-1
PS-2
PS-3
Install Agent
Fetch Agent
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050
100150
200250
300350
400450
500
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Request Number
Res
po
se i
n m
illi
seco
nd
Mobile Agent
Client-Server
Student Paper Interface Client
MA Interactions
Client –Server Interactions
Response time of CS v/s MA
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Observations• Mobile agents enable
– Local interactions to reduce response times– Handling dynamic contents– Application level multicasting– Dynamic up-gradation of application components– Centralized control and management of logistics
• Mobile agents provide effective and flexible mechanisms for structuring distributed applications like student examination systems