An M-Commerce Environment Based on Software Agents

This paper presents the E _-C_ommerce through W_ ireless dE _vices (E-CWE) project that uses software agents in the design and development of an m-commerce environment. Users of the E-CWE environment are able to use their wireless devices, such as mobile phones, to undertake e-commerce transactions. Conducting these transactions raises new issues that vary from the limited bandwidth of networks to the small size of screens. To support such users, software agents act on their behalf. For instance, the agents search for the products, negotiate with providers, and last but not least keep users informed about their progress. The operations that these agents carry out constitute itineraries. A technique to specify itineraries in the E-CWE environment is also discussed in this paper.