Toward a Mobile Agent Relay Network

Although wireless communication provides connectivity where hardwired links are difficult or impractical, it is still hindered by the environmental conditions where the communicators reside. An alternative solution is to create a Mobile Agent Relay Network (MARN). Each autonomous node in the MARN decides where to move to maintain the network connectivity using only locally-available information from onboard sensors and communication with in-range neighbor nodes. This thesis takes the first steps toward realizing a MARN by providing mobile relay agents. Each model-based reflex agent is guided by a modified flocking behavior which considers only trustworthy neighbors and uses a Bayesian model to aggregate observations and shared reputation. The relay agents are able to build a network and maintain connectivity for their users. In this work, MARN agent algorithms are evaluated in a simulated unobstructed environment with stationary users. The system behavior is explored under both benign conditions and with varying numbers of misbehaving nodes.