Skip to main content
Fachgebiete
Automobil + Motoren Bauwesen + Immobilien Business IT + Informatik Elektrotechnik + Elektronik Energie + Nachhaltigkeit Finance + Banking Management + Führung Marketing + Vertrieb Maschinenbau + Werkstoffe Versicherung + Risiko
DE
EN
Themenseiten
Organisationspsychologie Projektmanagement Marketing Smart Manufacturing
Bücher
Zeitschriften
Weitere Formate
Podcasts Webinare Technik Webinare Wirtschaft Kongresse Veranstaltungskalender Awards
Jetzt Einzelzugang starten
Zugang für Unternehmen
Referenzkunden
MTZ-Fachkongress

Antriebe und Energiesysteme von morgen


Austausch von Automobil- und Energiewirtschaft

Am 14./15. Mai geht es in Chemnitz um die Mobilitätswende durch Elektro- und Wasserstofffahrzeuge.
Erweiterte Suche
Anmelden
nach oben

2003 | Buch

A Discussion of Two Major Benefits of Using Agents in Software Development Kapitel lesen Erstes Kapitel lesen

Engineering Societies in the Agents World III

Third International Workshop, ESAW 2002 Madrid, Spain, September 16–17, 2002 Revised Papers

herausgegeben von: Paolo Petta, Robert Tolksdorf, Franco Zambonelli

Verlag: Springer Berlin Heidelberg

Buchreihe : Lecture Notes in Computer Science

Enthalten in: Professional Book Archive

Einloggen, um Zugang zu erhalten
insite
SUCHEN

Über dieses Buch

The characteristics of software systems are undergoing dramatic changes. We are moving rapidly into the age of ubiquitous information services. Persistent computing systems are being embedded in everyday objects. They interact in an autonomouswaywith eachother to provideus with increasinglycomplexservices and functionalities that we can access at any time from anywhere. As a con- quence, not only do the numbers of components of software systems increase; there is also a strong qualitative impact. Software systems are increasingly made up of autonomous, proactive, networked components. These interact with each other in patterns and via mechanisms that can hardly be modeled in terms of classical models of interaction or service-oriented coordination. To some extent, future software systems will exhibit characteristics making them more res- blant of natural systems and societies than of mechanical systems and software architectures. This situation poses exciting challenges to computer scientists and software engineers. Already, software agents and multi-agent systems are recognized as both useful abstractions and e?ective technologies for the modeling and building of complex distributed applications. However, little is done with regard to e?- tive and methodic development of complex software systems in terms of mul- agent societies. An urgent need exists for novel approaches to software modeling and software engineering that enable the successful deployment of software s- tems made up ofa massive number ofautonomous components, and that allowus to control and predict their behaviour.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter

Views

A Discussion of Two Major Benefits of Using Agents in Software Development
Abstract
Agent-oriented software engineering has not yet solved the basic problem of why we should use agents to build our software system. Why is it convenient to use agents instead of more mature technologies like, for example, software components? This paper addresses this issue and compares a BDI-like agent model with well-known component models like Enterprise JavaBeans, CORBABeans and .NET components. The two major results of such a comparison are: (i) agents are more reusable and more composable than components, and (ii) agents allow to describe systems at a higher level of abstractions than components. This work is not meant to be conclusive; rather it intends to start a debate on these and related topics.
Federico Bergenti
Signs of a Revolution in Computer Science and Software Engineering
Abstract
Several characteristics distinguish today’s complex software systems from “traditional” ones. Examples in different areas show that these characteristics, already the focus of agent-oriented software engineering research, influence many application domains. These characteristics will impact how software systems are modeled and engineered. We are on the edge of a revolutionary shift of paradigm, pioneered by the multi-agent systems community, and likely to change our very attitudes in software systems modeling and engineering.
Franco Zambonelli, H. Van Dyke Parunak

Models

Rationality, Autonomy and Coordination: The Sunk Costs Perspective
Abstract
Our thesis is that an agent1 is autonomous only if he is capable, within a non predictable environment, to balance two forms of rationality: one that, given goals and preferences, enables him to select the best course of action (means-ends), the other, given current achievements and capabilities, enables him to adapt preferences and future goals. We will propose the basic elements of an economic model that should explain how and why this balance is achieved: in particular we underline that an agent’s capabilities can often be considered as partially sunk investments. This leads an agent, while choosing, to consider not just the value generated by the achievement of a goal, but also the lost value generated by the non use of existing capabilities. We will propose that, under particular conditions, an agent, in order to be rational, could be led to performa rationalization process of justification that changes preferences and goals according to his current state and available capabilities. Moreover, we propose that such a behaviour could offer a new perspective on the notion of autonomy and on the social process of coordination.
Matteo Bonifacio, Paolo Bouquet, Roberta Ferrario, Diego Ponte
A Normative and Intentional Agent Model for Organisation Modelling
Abstract
This paper proposes a new agent model, including normative aspects based on studies from social psychology. The three main model components are the Epistemic, Deontic and Axiologic components. This model structure facilitates the representation of normative organisational knowledge and processes as well as the relations between individual and social interests. Instead of manipulating the notions of belief, intention, desire, commitment, goal and obligation, the only primitives needed are belief and generalized goal.
Joaquim Filipe
Simulating Computational Societies
Abstract
Multi-agent systems can be considered from a variety of perspectives. One such perspective arises from considering the architecture of an agent itself. Another is that of an instantiated agent architecture and its interaction with its peers in a MAS. A third perspective is that of an external observer. These three perspectives cover a potentially overlapping but essentially distinct set of issues concerning MAS simulation and modelling. In this paper, we consider each of these perspectives in turn and demonstrate how a simulation framework can support a collective treatment of such concepts. We discuss the implications for agent development and agent society design arising from the results and analysis of our simulation approach.
Lloyd Kamara, Alexander Artikis, Brendan Neville, Jeremy Pitt
Co-Fields: Towards a Unifying Approach to the Engineering of Swarm Intelligent Systems
Abstract
Swarm intelligent systems, in which the paths to problem solving emerge as the result of interactions between simple autonomous components (agents or ants) and between them and their environment, appear very promising to develop robust and flexible software application. However, the variety of swarm-based approaches that have been proposed so far still lacks a common modeling and engineering methodology. In the attempt to overcome this problem, this paper presents a general coordination methodology in which swarm’s components are simply driven by abstract computational force fields (Co-Fields), generated either by agents, or by the environment. By having agents be driven in their activities by such fields, globally coordinated behaviors can naturally emerge. Although this model still does not offer a complete engineering methodology, it can provide a unifying abstraction for swarm intelligent systems and it can also be exploited to formalize these systems in terms of dynamical systems whose behavior can be described via differential equations. Several example of swarm systems modeled with Co-Fields are presented to support our thesis.
Marco Mamei, Franco Zambonelli, Letizia Leonardi
A Schema for Specifying Computational Autonomy
Abstract
A key property associated with computational agency is autonomy, and it is broadly agreed that agents as autonomous entities (or autonomous software in general) have the capacity to become an enabling technology for a variety of complex applications in fields such as telecommunications, e/m-commerce, and pervasive computing. This raises the strong need for techniques that support developers of agentoriented applications in specifying the kind and level of autonomy they want to ascribe to the individual agents. This paper describes a specification schema called RNS (“Roles, Norms, Sanctions”) that has been developed in response to this need. The basic view underlying RNS is that agents act as owners of roles in order to attain their individual and joint goals. As a role owner an agent is exposed to certain norms (permissions, obligations and interdictions), and through behaving in conformity with or in deviation from norms an agent becomes exposed to certain sanctions (reward and punishment). RNS has several desirable features which together make it unique and distinct from other approaches to autonomy specification. In particular, unlike other approaches RNS is strongly expressive and makes it possible to specify autonomy at a very precise level. Moreover, RNS is domain- and application-independent, and is of particular value for agent-oriented requirements elicitation and analysis.
Matthias Nickles, Michael Rovatsos, Gerhard Weiß
Activity Theory as a Framework for MAS Coordination
Abstract
Approaches to the coordination of multiagent systems (MAS) have been recently classified as subjective — typically coming from the distributed artificial intelligence (DAI) —, and objective — coming from the community of Coordination Models and Languages. Subjective and objective approaches have a very different impact on the engineering of social aspects of MAS, in particular with respect to the ability of specifying and enacting social laws to achieve global coherent behaviours. In this work, we provide a conceptual framework — influenced by the research on Activity Theory — where both subjective and objective coordination play an essential role, each providing effective means for the same coordination/cooperative problems at different abstraction and operational levels: co-construction/co-operation level for subjective coordination, and coordination level for objective coordination. In particular, the work shows the benefits of supporting dynamic transitions between such levels, alternating co-operation stages — in which agents reason about coordination and cooperatively forge coordination artifacts (laws, constraints, norms) — and co-ordination stages — where the artifacts, embodied in proper coordination media, are exploited, so as to enact automated, consistent and prescriptive coordination.
Alessandro Ricci, Andrea Omicini, Enrico Denti
An Operational Framework for the Semantics of Agent Communication Languages
Abstract
From an engineering perspective, the agent abstraction can be suitably exploited for tackling cooperation of heterogeneous systems, facilitating semantic interoperability of independently developed software components. But, in order to support the sound design of infrastructures for agent systems, adequate models have to be studied as to grasp the important aspects of cooperation at the desired level of abstraction. In this paper we focus on the semantics of Agent Communication Languages (ACLs), and study the approach based on the idea of describing an agent as a grey-box software component, representing its behaviour by means of transition systems. This framework provides an operational description of ACLs, considering the single-step evolution and interactive capability of an agent, which contrasts the classical frameworks based on intentional descriptions, which rely on the concept of agent mental state. Some examples are provided to show the flavours of the proposed model to describe various semantic aspects of communicative acts.
Giovanni Rimassa, Mirko Viroli
Access-as-you-need: A Computational Logic Framework for Accessing Resources in Artificial Societies
Abstract
We investigate the application of abductive logic programming, an existing framework for knowledge representation and reasoning, for specifying the knowledge and behaviour of software agents that need to access resources in a global computing environment. The framework allows agents that need resources to join artificial societies where those resources are available. We show how to endow agents with the capability of becoming and ceasing to be members of societies, for different categories of artificial agent societies, and of requesting and being given or denied resources within societies. The strength of our formulation lies in combining the modelling and the computational properties of abductive logic programming for dealing with the issues arising in resource access within artificial agent societies.
Francesca Toni, Kostas Stathis
Motivating Participation in Peer to Peer Communities
Abstract
One of the most important prerequisites for the success of a peer to peer system is the availability of participants willing to provide resources (files, computational cycles, time and effort to the community). Free riders may do no harm in file-sharing applications, like NAPSTER, because of the nature of electronic data, which can be reproduced at no cost; downloading a copy does not take anything away from the common resources. However, free riders can be destructive in applications where there are costs associated with the resources shared. The paper argues that providing motivation or some kind of incentives for users to participate is very important. It describes various methods to motivate different kinds of users and describes a design of a peer to peer system called Comutella, which is being developed currently to support file and service (help, advice) sharing in research groups and groups of learners.
Julita Vassileva

Engineering

ADELFE: A Methodology for Adaptive Multi-agent Systems Engineering
Abstract
Adaptive software is used in situations where either the environment is unpredictable or the system is open. This paper presents a methodology named ADELFE, which is led by the Rational Unified Process (RUP) but is devoted to software engineering of adaptive multi- agent systems. ADELFE guarantees that the software is developed according to the AMAS theory1. We focus this presentation on the additions of ADELFE regarding the three first core workflows of the RUP. Therefore, during the requirements phase, the environment of the studied system must be defined and characterized. Then, in the analysis phase, the engineer is guided to decide to use adaptive multi-agent technology and to identify the agents through the system and the environment models. Finally, the design workflow of ADELFE must provide the cooperative agent’s model and helps the developer to define the local agents. behavior. We illustrate the methodology by applying it to a case study: a timetable design.
Carole Bernon, Marie-Pierre Gleizes, Sylvain Peyruqueou, Gauthier Picard
Evaluating Multi-agent System Architectures: A Case Study Concerning Dynamic Resource Allocation
Abstract
Much effort has been spent on suggesting and implementing new architectures of Multi-Agent Systems. However, we believe the time has come to compare and evaluate these architectures in a more systematic way. Rather than just studying a particular application, we suggest that more general problem domains corresponding to sets of applications should be studied. Similarly, we argue that it is more useful to study the properties of classes of multi-agent system architectures than particular architectures. Also, it is important to evaluate the architectures in several dimensions, both different performance-related attributes, which are domain dependent and more general quality attributes, such as, robustness, modifiability, and scalability. As a case study we investigate the general problem of “dynamic resource allocation” and present four classes of multi-agent system architectures that solve this problem. These classes are discriminated by their degree of distribution of control and degree of synchronization. Finally, we instantiate each of these architecture classes and evaluate, through simulation experiments, how they solve a concrete dynamic resource allocation problem, namely load balancing and overload control of Intelligent Networks.
Paul Davidsson, Stefan Johansson
Engineering Agent Systems for Decision Support
Abstract
This paper discusses how agent technology can be applied to the design of advanced Information Systems for Decision Support. In particular, it describes the different steps and models that are necessary to engineer Decision Support Systems based on a multiagent architecture. The approach is illustrated by a case study in the traffic management domain.
Sascha Ossowski, Josefa Z. Hernández, Carlos A. Iglesias, Alberto Fernández
Co-ordinating Heterogeneous Interactions in Systems Composed of Active Human and Agent Societies
Abstract
This paper describes the specification and implementation of the middle layer in a new three-layer time-aware agent architecture. This architecture is designed for applications and environments where societies of humans and agents play equally active roles, but interact and operate in completely different time frames. The middle layer, called the Time-Aware Layer, uses services of the underlying real-time layer to co-ordinate the heterogeneous interactions present in composite humanagent systems. Interactions are unified by abstracting away from their temporal representation, temporal scale and class of parties they involve (be they humans or agents). To achieve this, this paper firstly introduces Availability Functions as the primary mechanism of reasoning about temporal constraints placed on interactions. It subsequently describes their stylised analytic representation and develops a Selective Sampling Algorithm which allows searching through them in bounded time. The resultant implementation allows more effective engineering of the topmost application layer firstly by providing an abstract, unified view of interactions and secondly by predicting and guaranteeing their initiation and completion times.
Konstantinos Prouskas, Jeremy Pitt

Modelling and Design

SABPO: A Standards Based and Pattern Oriented Multi-agent Development Methodology
Abstract
Organizational metaphor, in which each agent plays a specific role to achieve organization’s global goal(s), seems as the most suitable approach to model multi-agent systems. In this paper, a new methodology, which uses organizational metaphor as its basis and integrates this metaphor to the FIPA standards and well-known interaction protocols in a systematic way, is introduced. In addition to the proposed methodology, a new interaction pattern, which is called as “ontology inception”, is introduced. This pattern illustrates how the methodologists can mine new agent interaction patterns from the requirements and how these patterns can be inserted into the FIPA standards to create a pattern catalogue. Naturally, interactions of each interaction pattern add new tasks to the participant agents. We believe that the requirements of these new tasks and how they are inserted into the agent’s internal architecture must be documented as part of the pattern knowledge. Thus, internal requirements of the “ontology inception” pattern are discussed from the perspective of the participating agents. By this way, understandability of the pattern will be improved.
Oğuz Dikenelli, Riza Cenk Erdur
Modelling a Multi-agent System Environment
Abstract
Amulti-agent System (MAS) can be viewed as a software system evolving in some environment, with which it has to interact. During the MAS life cycle, many situations may occur, situations that are considered to be critical and that would have an effect on the MAS, prompting it to quickly adjust to this new situation. A design methodology of a MAS should help the designer to represent information about a changing environment and its effects on the MAS, an aspect of the modelling task which is currently lacking from agent design methodologies. We propose to add two new diagrams: an environment diagram and an agent diagram, to MAS modelling methodologies. These diagrams will conceptualise the impact of the environment on the structure of the MAS, and therefore should guide the development of the actual implementation of the MAS.
Sehl Mellouli, Guy W. Mineau, Daniel Pascot
Towards a Methodology for Coordination Mechanism Selection in Open Systems
Abstract
Agent-oriented software engineering (AOSE) is a promising approach to developing applications for dynamic open systems. If well developed, these applications can be opportunistic, taking advantage of services implemented by other developers at appropriate times. However, methodologies are needed to aid the development of systems that are both flexible enough to be opportunistic and tightly defined by the application requirements. In this paper, we investigate how developers can choose the coordination mechanisms of agents so that the agents will best fulfil application requirements in an open system.
Simon Miles, Mike Joy, Michael Luck
Specification by Refinement and Agreement: Designing Agent Interaction Using Landmarks and Contracts
Abstract
In this paper, we argue that multi-agent systems developed to model and support organizations must on the one hand be able to describe and realize the goals and structure of that particular organization and on the other hand allow for autonomous behavior of participating actors. The agent autonomy should include collaboration autonomy, which means that agents can decide among each other how they want to cooperate. We present a model for agent societies and two techniques that can be used to achieve the described objectives: landmarks and contracts. The effects of these techniques on different agent society types are explored as well.
Hans Weigand, Virginia Dignum, John-Jules Meyer, Frank Dignum
An Agent and Goal-Oriented Approach for Virtual Enterprise Modelling: A Case Study
Abstract
Virtual enterprise established to satisfy the requirements of market is a one-off, dynamic distributed organization. In a virtual enterprise, partners who are selected form an alliance to fulfill goals that otherwise can’t be achieved for the limitation of individual’s capabilities. Modelling virtual enterprise will assist in analyzing system requirement and facilitating cooperation among the partners. This paper proposes to use strategic actor based on the i* framework to model virtual enterprise. The partners are treated as strategic agents and cooperation among them are depicted as dependency relationships. The actors in the model can form a hierarchical and federated architecture and cooperate with each other. So the virtual enterprise paradigm can be analyzed and realized based on the agent and goal-oriented approach. Example from an air-separator virtual enterprise is used to illustrate.
Zhi Liu, Lin Liu
Backmatter
Metadaten
Titel
Engineering Societies in the Agents World III
herausgegeben von
Paolo Petta
Robert Tolksdorf
Franco Zambonelli
Copyright-Jahr
2003
Verlag
Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Electronic ISBN
978-3-540-39173-9
Print ISBN
978-3-540-14009-2
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-39173-8