Many simulations and other applications need to interact seamlessly with distributed data resources. The Agent-Based Environment for Linking Simulations (ABELS) allows the formation of a dynamic "data and simulation cloud" that links a heterogeneous collection of networked resources. ABELS consists of three major types of components: user entities that serve as data producers and/or consumers, a brokering system for organizing and linking the various participants, and generic local agents that

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... onnect simulations and data resources to the cloud of participants. This paper presents the design of the distributed brokering system, which is implemented using Java and Sun Microsystems' Jini technology.