Tools for Implementing Multi-Agent Systems Based on Protocols

Abstract

Interaction-Oriented Programming (IOP) is an approach to building a multi-agent system by modeling the interactions between its roles via a flexible interaction protocol and implementing agents to realize the interactions of the roles they play in the protocol. In recent years, we have developed an extensive suite of software that enables multi-agent system developers to apply IOP. These include tools for efficiently verifying protocols for properties such as liveness and safety and middleware that simplifies the implementation of agents. This chapter presents some of that software suite