Multi-dimensional adaptation in MAS organizations

© 2013 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.Organization adaptation requires determining the consequences of applying changes not only in terms of the benefits provided but also measuring the adaptation costs as well as the impact that these changes have on all of the components of the organization. In this paper, we provide an approach for adaptation in multiagent systems based on a multidimensional transition deliberation mechanism (MTDM). This approach considers transitions in multiple dimensions and is aimed at obtaining the adaptation with the highest potential for improvement in utility based on the costs of adaptation. The approach provides an accurate measurement of the impact of the adaptation since it determines the organization that is to be transitioned to as well as the changes required to carry out this transition. We show an example of adaptation in a service provider network environment in order to demonstrate that the measurement of the adaptation consequences taken by the MTDM improves the organization performance more than the other approaches.Manuscript received January 2, 2012; revised July 26, 2012; accepted August 7, 2012. Date of publication August 31, 2012; date of current version April 16, 2013. This work was supported in part by projects TIN2008-04446 and TIN2009-13839-C03-01. J. M. Alberola received a Grant from Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion de Espana (AP2007-00289). This paper was recommended by Associate Editor J. Huang.Alberola Oltra, JM.; Julian Inglada, VJ.; García-Fornes, A. (2013). Multi-dimensional adaptation in MAS organizations. IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, Part B: Cybernetics. 43(2):622-633. https://doi.org/10.1109/TSMCB.2012.2213592S62263343

TRAMMAS: Enhancing Communication in Multiagent Systems

Tesis por compendio[EN] Over the last years, multiagent systems have been proven to be a powerful and versatile paradigm, with a big potential when it comes to solving complex problems in dynamic and distributed environments, due to their flexible and adaptive behavior. This potential does not only come from the individual features of agents (such as autonomy, reactivity or reasoning power), but also to their capability to communicate, cooperate and coordinate in order to fulfill their goals. In fact, it is this social behavior what makes multiagent systems so powerful, much more than the individual capabilities of agents. The social behavior of multiagent systems is usually developed by means of high level abstractions, protocols and languages, which normally rely on (or at least, benefit from) agents being able to communicate and interact indirectly. However, in the development process, such high level concepts habitually become weakly supported, with mechanisms such as traditional messaging, massive broadcasting, blackboard systems or ad hoc solutions. This lack of an appropriate way to support indirect communication in actual multiagent systems compromises their potential. This PhD thesis proposes the use of event tracing as a flexible, effective and efficient support for indirect interaction and communication in multiagent systems. The main contribution of this thesis is TRAMMAS, a generic, abstract model for event tracing support in multiagent systems. The model allows all entities in the system to share their information as trace events, so that any other entity which require this information is able to receive it. Along with the model, the thesis also presents an abstract architecture, which redefines the model in terms of a set of tracing facilities that can be then easily incorporated to an actual multiagent platform. This architecture follows a service-oriented approach, so that the tracing facilities are provided in the same way than other traditional services offered by the platform. In this way, event tracing can be considered as an additional information provider for entities in the multiagent system, and as such, it can be integrated from the earliest stages of the development process.[ES] A lo largo de los últimos años, los sistemas multiagente han demostrado ser un paradigma potente y versátil, con un gran potencial a la hora de resolver problemas complejos en entornos dinámicos y distribuidos, gracias a su comportamiento flexible y adaptativo. Este potencial no es debido únicamente a las características individuales de los agentes (como son su autonomía, y su capacidades de reacción y de razonamiento), sino que también se debe a su capacidad de comunicación y cooperación a la hora de conseguir sus objetivos. De hecho, por encima de la capacidad individual de los agentes, es este comportamiento social el que dota de potencial a los sistemas multiagente. El comportamiento social de los sistemas multiagente suele desarrollarse empleando abstracciones, protocolos y lenguajes de alto nivel, los cuales, a su vez, se basan normalmente en la capacidad para comunicarse e interactuar de manera indirecta de los agentes (o como mínimo, se benefician en gran medida de dicha capacidad). Sin embargo, en el proceso de desarrollo software, estos conceptos de alto nivel son soportados habitualmente de manera débil, mediante mecanismos como la mensajería tradicional, la difusión masiva, o el uso de pizarras, o mediante soluciones totalmente ad hoc. Esta carencia de un soporte genérico y apropiado para la comunicación indirecta en los sistemas multiagente reales compromete su potencial. Esta tesis doctoral propone el uso del trazado de eventos como un soporte flexible, efectivo y eficiente para la comunicación indirecta en sistemas multiagente. La principal contribución de esta tesis es TRAMMAS, un modelo genérico y abstracto para dar soporte al trazado de eventos en sistemas multiagente. El modelo permite a cualquier entidad del sistema compartir su información en forma de eventos de traza, de tal manera que cualquier otra entidad que requiera esta información sea capaz de recibirla. Junto con el modelo, la tesis también presenta una arquitectura {abs}{trac}{ta}, que redefine el modelo como un conjunto de funcionalidades que pueden ser fácilmente incorporadas a una plataforma multiagente real. Esta arquitectura sigue un enfoque orientado a servicios, de modo que las funcionalidades de traza son ofrecidas por parte de la plataforma de manera similar a los servicios tradicionales. De esta forma, el trazado de eventos puede ser considerado como una fuente adicional de información para las entidades del sistema multiagente y, como tal, puede integrarse en el proceso de desarrollo software desde sus primeras etapas.[CA] Al llarg dels últims anys, els sistemes multiagent han demostrat ser un paradigma potent i versàtil, amb un gran potencial a l'hora de resoldre problemes complexes a entorns dinàmics i distribuïts, gràcies al seu comportament flexible i adaptatiu. Aquest potencial no és només degut a les característiques individuals dels agents (com són la seua autonomia, i les capacitats de reacció i raonament), sinó també a la seua capacitat de comunicació i cooperació a l'hora d'aconseguir els seus objectius. De fet, per damunt de la capacitat individual dels agents, es aquest comportament social el que dóna potencial als sistemes multiagent. El comportament social dels sistemes multiagent solen desenvolupar-se utilitzant abstraccions, protocols i llenguatges d'alt nivell, els quals, al seu torn, es basen normalment a la capacitat dels agents de comunicar-se i interactuar de manera indirecta (o com a mínim, es beneficien en gran mesura d'aquesta capacitat). Tanmateix, al procés de desenvolupament software, aquests conceptes d'alt nivell son suportats habitualment d'una manera dèbil, mitjançant mecanismes com la missatgeria tradicional, la difusió massiva o l'ús de pissarres, o mitjançant solucions totalment ad hoc. Aquesta carència d'un suport genèric i apropiat per a la comunicació indirecta als sistemes multiagent reals compromet el seu potencial. Aquesta tesi doctoral proposa l'ús del traçat d'esdeveniments com un suport flexible, efectiu i eficient per a la comunicació indirecta a sistemes multiagent. La principal contribució d'aquesta tesi és TRAMMAS, un model genèric i abstracte per a donar suport al traçat d'esdeveniments a sistemes multiagent. El model permet a qualsevol entitat del sistema compartir la seua informació amb la forma d'esdeveniments de traça, de tal forma que qualsevol altra entitat que necessite aquesta informació siga capaç de rebre-la. Junt amb el model, la tesi també presenta una arquitectura abstracta, que redefineix el model com un conjunt de funcionalitats que poden ser fàcilment incorporades a una plataforma multiagent real. Aquesta arquitectura segueix un enfoc orientat a serveis, de manera que les funcionalitats de traça són oferides per part de la plataforma de manera similar als serveis tradicionals. D'aquesta manera, el traçat d'esdeveniments pot ser considerat com una font addicional d'informació per a les entitats del sistema multiagent, i com a tal, pot integrar-se al procés de desenvolupament software des de les seues primeres etapes.Búrdalo Rapa, LA. (2016). TRAMMAS: Enhancing Communication in Multiagent Systems [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/61765TESISCompendi

Challenges for adaptation in agent societies

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/[insert DOIAdaptation in multiagent systems societies provides a paradigm for allowing these societies to change dynamically in order to satisfy the current requirements of the system. This support is especially required for the next generation of systems that focus on open, dynamic, and adaptive applications. In this paper, we analyze the current state of the art regarding approaches that tackle the adaptation issue in these agent societies. We survey the most relevant works up to now in order to highlight the most remarkable features according to what they support and how this support is provided. In order to compare these approaches, we also identify different characteristics of the adaptation process that are grouped in different phases. Finally, we discuss some of the most important considerations about the analyzed approaches, and we provide some interesting guidelines as open issues that should be required in future developments.This work has been partially supported by CONSOLIDER-INGENIO 2010 under grant CSD2007-00022, the European Cooperation in the field of Scientific and Technical Research IC0801 AT, and projects TIN2009-13839-C03-01 and TIN2011-27652-C03-01.Alberola Oltra, JM.; Julian Inglada, VJ.; García-Fornes, A. (2014). Challenges for adaptation in agent societies. Knowledge and Information Systems. 38(1):1-34. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10115-012-0565-yS134381Aamodt A, Plaza E (1994) Case-based reasoning; foundational issues, methodological variations, and system approaches. AI Commun 7(1):39–59Abdallah S, Lesser V (2007) Multiagent reinforcement learning and self-organization in a network of agents. 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Trusted community : a novel multiagent organisation for open distributed systems

[no abstract

Approches environnement-centrées pour la simulation de systèmes multi-agents: Pour un déplacement de la complexité des agents vers l'environnement

This habilitation thesis synthesizes research works which are mainly related to the field of Multi-Agent Based Simulation (MABS). MABS is a general framework for modeling and experimenting with systems in which the dynamics emerges from local interactions among individuals (autonomous agents). Examples of use range from the study of natural systems (e.g. ant colonies, crowds or traffic jams) to the engineering of artificial ones (e.g., collective robotics, distributed artificial intelligence-based softwares). To this end, MABS modeling represents the behavior of individuals, their environment and interactions, so that global dynamics can be computed and studied from the bottom up. In this context, we have been investigating research on the theory and practice of MABS from two different perspectives : (1) the design of generic abstractions dedicated to the modeling of multi-agent dynamics (e.g., the IRM4S model) and (2) the engineering of MABS (MaDKit and TurtleKit platforms). Besides, we have been experimenting with MABS in different application domains such as image processing, video games, and collective robotics. Contrary to approaches that put the emphasis on the agent behaviors, all these works have been done by considering the environment of the agents as a first order abstraction. In this thesis, we first reflect upon the research we have conducted according to this perspective. Next, we show how we actually use this perspective to propose an original approach for using General-Purpose processing on Graphics Processing Units (GPGPU) within MABS, and then present the research perspectives related to our positioning.Les travaux de recherche synthétisés dans ce mémoire s’inscrivent principalement dans le domaine de la modélisation et de la simulation de systèmes multi-agents (SMA). La simulation multi-agents met en œuvre des modèles où les individus, leur environnement et leurs interactions sont directement représentés. Dans ces modèles, chaque individu –agent autonome– possède son propre comportement et produit ses actions en fonction d’une perception locale de son environnement. Ainsi, la simulation multi-agents est utilisée pour étudier des systèmes naturels comme les colonies de fourmis, les dynamiques de foules ou le trafic urbain, mais aussi pour concevoir des systèmes artificiels, par exemple dans le cadre de la robotique collective ou le développement de logiciels basés sur de l’intelligence artificielle distribuée. Dans ce cadre, nos recherches ont porté sur des problématiques liées à la modélisation de simulations multi-agents, avec la proposition de modèles formels et conceptuels (e.g. le modèle IRM4S) et d’outils logiciels génériques (plates-formes MaDKit et TurtleKit), et sur leur utilisation dans divers domaines tels que le jeu vidéo, le traitement numérique de l’image ou la robotique collective. Contrairement aux approches centrées sur la conception des comportements individuels, dans ces travaux l’environnement des agents est considéré comme une abstraction de premier ordre. Dans ce mémoire, nous dressons tout d’abord un bilan de nos recherches en argumentant l’intérêt d’une telle démarche pour les modèles multi-agents. Nous montrons ensuite comment celle-ci nous a récemment permis de proposer une approche originale dans le cadre de l’utilisation du calcul haute performance sur carte graphique (GPGPU) pour la simulation de SMA, avant de présenter les perspectives de recherche associées à notre positionnement

Principles for dynamic multi-agent organizations

No abstrac

Principles for dynamic multi-agent organizations

No abstrac

An adaptive framework for monitoring agent organizations

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10796-013-9478-xMultiagent technologies are usually considered to be suitable for constructing agent organizations that are capable of running in dynamic and distributed environments and that are able to adapt to changes as the system runs. The necessary condition for this adaptation ability is to make agents aware of significant changes in both the environment and the organization. This paper presents mechanism, which helps agents detecting adaptation requirements dynamically at run time, and an Trace&Trigger, which is an adaptation framework for agent organizations. It consists of an event-tracing-based monitoring mechanism that provides organizational agents with information related to the costs and benefits of carrying out an adaptation process at each moment of the execution. This framework intends to overcome some of the problems that are present in other approaches by allowing the dynamic specification of the information that has to be retrieved by each agent at each moment for adaptation deliberation, avoiding the transference of useless information for adaptation deliberation. This framework has been integrated in the Magentix2 multiagent platform. In order to test its performance benefits for any agent organization, an example based on a market scenario is also presentedThis work has been supported by projects TIN2011-27652-C03-01 and TIN2012-36586-C03-01.Alberola Oltra, JM.; Búrdalo Rapa, LA.; Julian Inglada, VJ.; Terrasa Barrena, AM.; García-Fornes, A. (2014). An adaptive framework for monitoring agent organizations. Information Systems Frontiers. 16(2):239-256. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10796-013-9478-xS239256162Abdu, H., Lutfiyya, H., Bauer, M.A. (1999). A model for adaptive monitoring configurations. 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