Multiagent negotiation for fair and unbiased resource allocation

This paper proposes a novel solution for the n agent cake cutting (resource allocation) problem. We propose a negotiation protocol for dividing a resource among n agents and then provide an algorithm for allotting portions of the resource. We prove that this protocol can enable distribution of the resource among n agents in a fair manner. The protocol enables agents to choose portions based on their internal utility function, which they do not have to reveal. In addition to being fair, the protocol has desirable features such as being unbiased and verifiable while allocating resources. In the case where the resource is two-dimensional (a circular cake) and uniform, it is shown that each agent can get close to l/n of the whole resource.Utility theory ; Utility function ; Bargaining ; Artificial intelligence ; Resource allocation ; Multiagent system

Service-oriented agents for collaborative industrial automation and production systems

Service-oriented Multi-Agent Systems (SoMAS) is an approach to combine the fundamental characteristics of service-oriented and multi-agent methods into a new platform for industrial automation. Several research works already targeted the connection of these technologies, presenting different perspectives in how and why to join them. This research focuses on available efforts and solutions in the area of SoMAS and explains the idea behind the service-oriented agents in industrial automation. A SoMAS system is mainly composed by shared resources in form of services and their providing/requesting agents. The paper also discusses the required engineering aspects of these systems, from the internal anatomy to the interaction patterns. Parameters of flexibility, reconfiguration, autonomy and reduced development efforts were considered and they should be the trademark of SoMAS. Aiming to illustrate the proposed approach, an example of service-oriented automation agents is given.The authors would like to thank the European Commission and the partners of the EU IST FP6 project “Service-Oriented Cross-layer infrastructure for Distributed smart Embedded devices” (SOCRADES), the EU FP6 "Network of Excellence for Innovative Production Machines and Systems” (I*PROMS), and the EC ICT FP7 project “Cooperating Objects Network of Excellence” (CONET) for their support

A Requirement-centric Approach to Web Service Modeling, Discovery, and Selection

Service-Oriented Computing (SOC) has gained considerable popularity for implementing Service-Based Applications (SBAs) in a flexible\ud and effective manner. The basic idea of SOC is to understand users'\ud requirements for SBAs first, and then discover and select relevant\ud services (i.e., that fit closely functional requirements) and offer\ud a high Quality of Service (QoS). Understanding users’ requirements\ud is already achieved by existing requirement engineering approaches\ud (e.g., TROPOS, KAOS, and MAP) which model SBAs in a requirement-driven\ud manner. However, discovering and selecting relevant and high QoS\ud services are still challenging tasks that require time and effort\ud due to the increasing number of available Web services. In this paper,\ud we propose a requirement-centric approach which allows: (i) modeling\ud users’ requirements for SBAs with the MAP formalism and specifying\ud required services using an Intentional Service Model (ISM); (ii)\ud discovering services by querying the Web service search engine Service-Finder\ud and using keywords extracted from the specifications provided by\ud the ISM; and(iii) selecting automatically relevant and high QoS services\ud by applying Formal Concept Analysis (FCA). We validate our approach\ud by performing experiments on an e-books application. The experimental\ud results show that our approach allows the selection of relevant and\ud high QoS services with a high accuracy (the average precision is\ud 89.41%) and efficiency (the average recall is 95.43%)

C-IPS: Specifying decision interdependencies in negotiations

Abstract. Negotiation is an important mechanism of coordination in multiagent systems. Contrary to early conceptualizations of negotiating agents, we believe that decisions regarding the negotiation issue and the negotiation partner are equally important as the selection of negotiation steps. Our C-IPS approach considers these three aspects as separate decision processes. It requires an explicit specification of interdependencies between them. In this article we address the task of specifying the dynamic interdependencies by means of IPS dynamics. Thereby we introduce a new level of modeling negotiating agents that is above negotiation mechanism and protocol design. IPS dynamics are presented using state charts. We define some generally required states, predicates and actions. We illustrate the dynamics by a simple example. The example is first specified for an idealized scenario and is then extended to a more realistic model that captures some features of open multiagent systems. The well-structured reasoning process for negotiating agents enables more comprehensive and hence more flexible architectures. The explicit modeling of all involved decisions and dependencies eases the understanding, evaluation, and comparison of different approaches to negotiating agents.

Agent Teams: Building and Implementing Software

Agents will become fundamental building blocks for general-purpose Internet-based software. The software may not display any explicitly agent-like characteristics, but it will exhibit the benefits of tolerance to errors, ease of maintenance, adaptability to change, and speed of construction that agents provide. Moreover, an agent-based approach to software development can lead to new types of software solutions that might not otherwise be obvious. The author considers how an approach based on teams of active, cooperative, and persistent software components, that is agents, shows special promise in enabling the rapid construction of robust and reusable software

A Process Framework for Designing Software Reference Architectures for Providing Tools as a Service

Product-Focused Software Process ImprovementSoftware Reference Architecture (SRA), which is a generic architecture solution for a specific type of software systems, provides foundation for the design of concrete architectures in terms of architecture design guidelines and architecture elements. The complexity and size of certain types of software systems need customized and systematic SRA design and evaluation methods. In this paper, we present a software Reference Architecture Design process Framework (RADeF) that can be used for analysis, design and evaluation of the SRA for provisioning of Tools as a Service as part of a cloud-enabled workSPACE (TSPACE). The framework is based on the state of the art results from literature and our experiences with designing software architectures for cloud-based systems. We have applied RADeF SRA design two types of TSPACE: software architecting TSPACE and software implementation TSPACE. The presented framework emphasizes on keeping the conceptual meta-model of the domain under investigation at the core of SRA design strategy and use it as a guiding tool for design, evaluation, implementation and evolution of the SRA. The framework also emphasizes to consider the nature of the tools to be provisioned and underlying cloud platforms to be used while designing SRA. The framework recommends adoption of the multi-faceted approach for evaluation of SRA and quantifiable measurement scheme to evaluate quality of the SRA. We foresee that RADeF can facilitate software architects and researchers during design, application and evaluation of a SRA and its instantiations into concrete software systems.Muhammad Aufeef Chauhan, Muhammad Ali Babar, and Christian W. Probs

The Sentient Web

In a startling revelation, a team of university scientists has reported that a network of computers has become conscious and sentient, and is beginning to assume control of online information system. In spite of the ominous tone typically chosen for dramatic effect, a sentient Web would be more helpful and much easier for people to use. An agent is an active, persistent software component that perceives, reasons, and acts, and whose actions include communication. Agents inherently take intentional actions based on sensory information and memories of past actions. All agents have necessary communication ability, but they do not necessarily possess introspective capabilities or awareness of place and time. Four things characterize being sentient Web conscious: 1) knowing 2) having intentions 3) introspecting and 4) experiencing phenomena. For the first two, it is easy to show that most Web entities possess and demonstrate the use of knowledge, and other entities, including Web services, exhibit intentions. The last two, introspection and phenomenal experience, are facets of awareness and are not as obvious in current Web systems, so we will consider them more thoroughly and conclude with future prospects

Networking Embedded Agents

Most of us will soon be managing an intranet in our homes, though we might not realize it. We might also be surprised at the devices that will be networked together. Just about every electrical device now contains one or more microprocessors. Designers typically find this a cost-effective way to provide device functionality, even when much of a processor\u27s power is unnecessary or unused. For example, my coffee maker contains a processor, even though the appliance needn\u27t be very smart and wastes most of its CPU cycles. Nevertheless, it is cheaper to include a general-purpose microprocessor than to incorporate custom logic devices. My kitchen, in fact, has at least six processors, in such appliances as the microwave, the dishwasher, and the toaster. These household devices are diverse and use their processors in quite different ways, but in the future they will share one important characteristic: Each will contain an agent. The agent will provide an intelligent interface to the device and, most importantly, will communicate with other devices in my home. At present, my devices are not very agent-like, and it is not useful to think, “My toaster knows when the toast is done” or “My coffee pot knows when the coffee is ready.” However, once the devices are interconnected so that they can communicate, they can arrange to have my coffee and toast ready at approximately the same time. Then I may think of them in anthropomorphic terms. For example, when I shut off my alarm clock, I can imagine it telling my kitchen devices to prepare my breakfast. When devices talk to each other, they begin to seem more like agents. At: this point my house becomes more than just a collection of processors-it becomes a multiagent system communicating over an intranet

Self-interested service-oriented agents based on trust and QoS for dynamic reconfiguration

Progressively increasing complexity of dynamic environments, in which services and applications are demanded by potential clients, requires a high level of reconfiguration of the offer to better match that ever changing demand. In particular, the dynamic change of the client’s needs, leading to higher exigency, may require a smart and flexible automatic composition of more elementary services. By leveraging the service-oriented architectures and multi-agent system benefits, the paper proposes a method to explore the flexibility of the decision support for the services’ reconfiguration based on several pillars, such as trust, reputation and QoS models, which allows the selection based on measuring the expected performance of the agents. Preliminary experimental results, extracted from a real case scenario, allow highlighting the benefits of the proposed distributed and flexible solution to balance the workload of service providers in a simple and fast manner. The proposed solution includes the agents’ intelligent decision-making capability to dynamically and autonomously change services selection on the fly, towards more trustworthy services with better quality when unexpected events happen, e.g. broken machines. We then propose the use of competitive self-interested agents to provide services that best suits to the client through dynamic service composition.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Agent Societies: Magnitude and Duration

If you only need agents to search the Web for cheap CDs, scalability is not an issue. The Web can support numerous agents if each acts independently. In short order, however, billions of embedded agents that sense their environment and interact with us and other agents will fill our world, making the human environment friendlier and more efficient. These agents will need not only scalable infrastructures and communication services, but also scalable social services encompassing ethics and laws. Research projects are under way around the world to develop and deploy such services. The author takes a look at the critical relationship between scalability and intelligent agents