FIT5031 Mobile software agents - Semester 2, 2010

Caulfield

Prerequisites

Prohibitions

Teaching approach

The approach to teaching and learning include a weekly two-hour lecture and a two-hour (tutorial/laboratory). Additionally, each student should spend a minimum of 6-8 hours for personal study/assignments every week.

Timetable information

For information on timetabling for on-campus classes please refer to MUTTS, http://mutts.monash.edu.au/MUTTS/

Tutorial allocation

On-campus students should register for tutorials/laboratories using the Allocate+ system: http://allocate.its.monash.edu.au/

Unit Schedule

*Please note that these dates may only apply to Australian campuses of Monash University. Off-shore students need to check the dates with their unit leader.

Improvements to this unit

I am planning to do a MONQUEST Evaluation for this unit.

Prescribed text(s) and readings

Recommended text(s) and readings

• William T. Cockayne and Michael Zyda.Mobile Agents. Manning Publications Co., 1998.
• Danny B. Lange and Mitsuru Oshima. Programming and Deploying Java Mobile Agents with Aglets. Addison-Wesley, 1998.
• Dejan S. Miljicic, Frederick Douglis and Richard G. Wheeler. Mobility: Processes, Computers and Agents. Addison-Wesley, 1999.

Required software and/or hardware

JADE Agent Tookit and Java

Equipment and consumables required or provided

Study resources

Study resources we will provide for your study are:

Lecture Notes

Tutorial Notes

Research Papers Provided by Lecturer

Overview

Faculty assessment policy

To pass a unit which includes an examination as part of the assessment a student must obtain:

• 40% or more in the unit's examination, and
• 40% or more in the unit's total non-examination assessment, and
• an overall unit mark of 50% or more.

If a student does not achieve 40% or more in the unit examination or the unit non-examination total assessment, and the total mark for the unit is greater than 50% then a mark of no greater than 49-N will be recorded for the unit.

Assignment tasks

Assignment coversheets

Assignment coversheets are available via "Student Forms" on the Faculty website: http://www.infotech.monash.edu.au/resources/student/forms/
You MUST submit a completed coversheet with all assignments, ensuring that the plagiarism declaration section is signed.

Assignment submission and return procedures, and assessment criteria will be specified with each assignment.

Assignment submission and preparation requirements will be detailed in each assignment specification. Submission must be made by the due date otherwise penalties will be enforced. You must negotiate any extensions formally with your campus unit leader via the in-semester special consideration process: http://www.infotech.monash.edu.au/resources/student/equity/special-consideration.html.

• Assignment task 1

  Title:

  Research & Presentation

  Description:

  You will be given a simple scenario to implement using mobile software agents and traditional client server distributed computing. You will need to conduct systematic performance evaluation comparing the two approaches and document your experiments. You will be asked to demonstrate the implementation in the tutorials and you will be asked to explain your results.

  Weighting:

  40

  Criteria for assessment:

  Individual assignment. You will need to have the two options implemented and functioning. You should be able to justfy the results you get and explain them to the tutor. You should adequately document your results and experimental data.

  Due date:

  Week 7 Sept 2nd, 2010

• Assignment task 2

  Title:

  Practical Assignment

  Description:

  You will be given a specification that you will need to implement using the JADE mobile agent toolkit. You will need to have sound knowledge of Java fundamentals in order to program the system. Your assessment will be based on a demonstration and interview.

  Weighting:

  40%

  Criteria for assessment:

  This is a group assignment. You will implement the system in groups of either two or one person(s). You will have a demonstration and interview in the week folllowing the submission. At the interview/demo both team members will need to demonstrate complete familiarity with the system/code and will need to individually change parts of the system as required by the tutor. Inability to demonstrate understanding, familiarity and competent programming skills will result in loss of marks for the individual.

  Due date:

  Submission in Week 12 , Wed 13th Oct, 2010 & Demonstration in the tutorials in Week 13.

• Assignment task 3

  Title:

  Reading & Test Component

  Description:

  The Reading Component will be assessed via a written test in the lecture. The material that the student will be asked questions from include all lecture notes apart from specific parts that will be pointed in the course of the unit. No programming or code-oriented questions will be asked. The questions will be in the form of short answers and MCQs

  Weighting:

  20%

  Criteria for assessment:

  A question may have many asnwers. You will be marked correct as long as a reasonable justification is provided for your choice/position. Attendence in class-room discussions and lectures and study of lecture notes is all that is required for this component.

  Due date:

  This will be coducted in the Lecture in Week 11 - Wed 13th Oct, 2010

Due dates and extensions

Please make every effort to submit work by the due dates. It is your responsibility to structure your study program around assignment deadlines, family, work and other commitments. Factors such as normal work pressures, vacations, etc. are not regarded as appropriate reasons for granting extensions. Students are advised to NOT assume that granting of an extension is a matter of course.

Students requesting an extension for any assessment during semester (eg. Assignments, tests or presentations) are required to submit a Special Consideration application form (in-semester exam/assessment task), along with original copies of supporting documentation, directly to their lecturer within two working days before the assessment submission deadline. Lecturers will provide specific outcomes directly to students via email within 2 working days. The lecturer reserves the right to refuse late applications.

A copy of the email or other written communication of an extension must be attached to the assignment submission.

Refer to the Faculty Special consideration webpage or further details and to access application forms: http://www.infotech.monash.edu.au/resources/student/equity/special-consideration.html

Late assignment

Assignments received after the due date will be subject to a penalty which will be specified in the individual assignment specifications handed in Week 1.

Return dates

Students can expect assignments to be returned within two weeks of the submission date or after receipt, whichever is later.

Feedback

Types of feedback you can expect to receive in this unit are:

Informal feedback on progress in labs/tutes

Graded assignments with comments

Test results and feedback