An experimental infrastructure for the sharing of knowledge on the Internet: the iOn project

The intelligent online network (iOn) has been designed to leverage the power of the latest technologies and communication infrastructure to empower a forum that enables effective sharing and distribution of knowledge. The system consists of users registered either as clients or experts. A central database is maintained to store all clientele information and archives, and this is used to answer the clients´ query if a match is found in the database, using an innovative natural language query-matching method. If no solution could be located in the database archives, the question and list of active experts is submitted to the mobile agent. The agent then traverses the experts online, thus consolidating the solution to be returned to the user. The system makes possible the implementation of disconnected operation mode next-generation networking protocols, while effectively handling load balancing and reliability