A framework for synthesis of web services and mobile agents

A general framework for mobile Web services ‐ which are Web services with the ability to migrate from one host to another ‐ is proposed. In this framework, a mobile Web service is composed of a combination of a BPEL process description, service components to be carried, and migration behavior descriptions using simple but expressive rules. The semantics of the descriptions are defined using Mobile Ambients, namely, a formal model of concurrent mobile processes. With this framework, it is thus possible to add or change migration behaviors without having to modify the BPEL process.