A mobile agent is a software program with the capability to suspend its execution and resume it on another computer. Agents are a relatively recent development in computer science, which have become a popular and useful methodology for the modelling and implementation of distributed systems, particularly those consisting of a number of largely autonomous components. The extensive use of multi-agent systems in various areas including information management, industrial control and manufacturing systems, suggests that the multi-agent systems methodology may also be appropriate for the design of power system automation systems.

IP Network-based Multi-agent Systems for Industrial Automation: Information Management, Condition Monitoring and Control of Power Systems is the first book to present an introduction to the use of the Internet protocol suite and multi-agent systems for the information management, online monitoring and control of distributed power system substations. It proposes an open architecture for information management and control, based on the concepts of multi-agent systems and mobile agents. In this book, mobile agents are applied to the retrieval and analysis of substation data, and to remote operator intervention. This book also describes a prototype implementation of the architecture, in the form of a substation information management system, which has been demonstrated and evaluated using a substation simulator. The architecture is also evaluated theoretically with respect to its performance, modifiability, functionality and reliability.

As mobile agent technologies are in the early stages the real applications of these technologies are rare; IP Network-based Multi-agent Systems for Industrial Automation: Information Management, Condition Monitoring and Control of Power Systems will be an excellent reference for postgraduates, researchers and academics in engineering and computer science, as well as engineers in system automation and managers in distributed industrial systems.