Large-Scale Distributed Coalition Formation

The CyberCraft project is an effort to construct a large scale Distributed Multi-Agent System (DMAS) to provide autonomous Cyberspace defense and mission assurance for the DoD. It employs a small but flexible agent structure that is dynamically reconfigurable to accommodate new tasks and policies. This document describes research into developing protocols and algorithms to ensure continued mission execution in a system of one million or more agents, focusing on protocols for coalition formation and Command and Control. It begins by building large-scale routing algorithms for a Hierarchical Peer to Peer structured overlay network, called Resource-Clustered Chord (RC-Chord). RC-Chord introduces the ability to efficiently locate agents by resources that agents possess. Combined with a task model defined for CyberCraft, this technology feeds into an algorithm that constructs task coalitions in a large-scale DMAS. Experiments reveal the flexibility and effectiveness of these concepts for achieving maximum work throughput in a simulated CyberCraft environment

Preliminary specification and design documentation for software components to achieve catallaxy in computational systems

This Report is about the preliminary specifications and design documentation for software components to achieve Catallaxy in computational systems. -- Die Arbeit beschreibt die Spezifikation und das Design von Softwarekomponenten, um das Konzept der Katallaxie in Grid Systemen umzusetzen. Eine Einführung ordnet das Konzept der Katallaxie in bestehende Grid Taxonomien ein und stellt grundlegende Komponenten vor. Anschließend werden diese Komponenten auf ihre Anwendbarkeit in bestehenden Application Layer Netzwerken untersucht.Grid Computing

Structured P2P Technologies for Distributed Command and Control

The utility of Peer-to-Peer (P2P) systems extends far beyond traditional file sharing. This paper provides an overview of how P2P systems are capable of providing robust command and control for Distributed Multi-Agent Systems (DMASs). Specifically, this article presents the evolution of P2P architectures to date by discussing supporting technologies and applicability of each generation of P2P systems. It provides a detailed survey of fundamental design approaches found in modern large-scale P2P systems highlighting design considerations for building and deploying scalable P2P applications. The survey includes unstructured P2P systems, content retrieval systems, communications structured P2P systems, flat structured P2P systems and finally Hierarchical Peer-to-Peer (HP2P) overlays. It concludes with a presentation of design tradeoffs and opportunities for future research into P2P overlay systems

Distributed coordination in unstructured intelligent agent societies

Current research on multi-agent coordination and distributed problem solving is still not robust or scalable enough to build large real-world collaborative agent societies because it relies on either centralised components with full knowledge of the domain or pre-defined social structures. Our approach allows overcoming these limitations by using a generic coordination framework for distributed problem solving on totally unstructured environments that enables each agent to decompose problems into sub-problems, identify those which it can solve and search for other agents to delegate the sub-problems for which it does not have the necessary knowledge or resources. Regarding the problem decomposition process, we have developed two distributed versions of the Graphplan planning algorithm. To allow an agent to discover other agents with the necessary skills for dealing with unsolved sub-problems, we have created two peer-to-peer search algorithms that build and maintain a semantic overlay network that connects agents relying on dependency relationships, which improves future searches. Our approach was evaluated using two different scenarios, which allowed us to conclude that it is efficient, scalable and robust, allowing the coordinated distributed solving of complex problems in unstructured environments without the unacceptable assumptions of alternative approaches developed thus far.As abordagens actuais de coordenação multi-agente e resolução distribuída de problemas não são suficientemente robustas ou escaláveis para criar sociedades de agentes colaborativos uma vez que assentam ou em componentes centralizados com total conhecimento do domínio ou em estruturas sociais pré-definidas. A nossa abordagem permite superar estas limitações através da utilização de um algoritmo genérico de coordenação de resolução distribuída de problemas em ambientes totalmente não estruturados, o qual permite a cada agente decompor problemas em sub-problemas, identificar aqueles que consegue resolver e procurar outros agentes a quem delegar os subproblemas para os quais não tem conhecimento suficiente. Para a decomposição de problemas, criámos duas versões distribuídas do algoritmo de planeamento Graphplan. Para procurar os agentes com as capacidades necessárias à resolução das partes não resolvidas do problema, criámos dois algoritmos de procura que constroem e mantêm uma camada de rede semântica que relaciona agentes dependentes com o fim de facilitar as procuras. A nossa abordagem foi avaliada em dois cenários diferentes, o que nos permitiu concluir que ´e uma abordagem eficiente, escalável e robusta, possibilitando a resolução distribuída e coordenada de problemas complexos em ambientes não estruturados sem os pressupostos inaceitáveis em que assentava o trabalho feito até agora

Enforcement in Dynamic Spectrum Access Systems

The spectrum access rights granted by the Federal government to spectrum users come with the expectation of protection from harmful interference. As a consequence of the growth of wireless demand and services of all types, technical progress enabling smart agile radio networks, and on-going spectrum management reform, there is both a need and opportunity to use and share spectrum more intensively and dynamically. A key element of any framework for managing harmful interference is the mechanism for enforcement of those rights. Since the rights to use spectrum and to protection from harmful interference vary by band (licensed/unlicensed, legacy/newly reformed) and type of use/users (primary/secondary, overlay/underlay), it is reasonable to expect that the enforcement mechanisms may need to vary as well.\ud \ud In this paper, we present a taxonomy for evaluating alternative mechanisms for enforcing interference protection for spectrum usage rights, with special attention to the potential changes that may be expected from wider deployment of Dynamic Spectrum Access (DSA) systems. Our exploration of how the design of the enforcement regime interacts with and influences the incentives of radio operators under different rights regimes and market scenarios is intended to assist in refining thinking about appropriate access rights regimes and how best to incentivize investment and growth in more efficient and valuable uses of the radio frequency spectrum

Analysis of current middleware used in peer-to-peer and grid implementations for enhancement by catallactic mechanisms

This deliverable describes the work done in task 3.1, Middleware analysis: Analysis of current middleware used in peer-to-peer and grid implementations for enhancement by catallactic mechanisms from work package 3, Middleware Implementation. The document is divided in four parts: The introduction with application scenarios and middleware requirements, Catnets middleware architecture, evaluation of existing middleware toolkits, and conclusions. -- Die Arbeit definiert Anforderungen an Grid und Peer-to-Peer Middleware Architekturen und analysiert diese auf ihre Eignung für die prototypische Umsetzung der Katallaxie. Eine Middleware-Architektur für die Umsetzung der Katallaxie in Application Layer Netzwerken wird vorgestellt.Grid Computing

Wireless Sensor Network Virtualization: A Survey

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are the key components of the emerging Internet-of-Things (IoT) paradigm. They are now ubiquitous and used in a plurality of application domains. WSNs are still domain specific and usually deployed to support a specific application. However, as WSN nodes are becoming more and more powerful, it is getting more and more pertinent to research how multiple applications could share a very same WSN infrastructure. Virtualization is a technology that can potentially enable this sharing. This paper is a survey on WSN virtualization. It provides a comprehensive review of the state-of-the-art and an in-depth discussion of the research issues. We introduce the basics of WSN virtualization and motivate its pertinence with carefully selected scenarios. Existing works are presented in detail and critically evaluated using a set of requirements derived from the scenarios. The pertinent research projects are also reviewed. Several research issues are also discussed with hints on how they could be tackled.Comment: Accepted for publication on 3rd March 2015 in forthcoming issue of IEEE Communication Surveys and Tutorials. This version has NOT been proof-read and may have some some inconsistencies. Please refer to final version published in IEEE Xplor