Decision-making and control co-design for multi-agent systems: a hierarchical design methodology

Decision-making and control are two of the foremost key ingredients in any autonomous intelligent system. Their codesign has been well-recognized even since the early days of control [1]. Recently, motivated by the wide applications of physical networked systems in different areas to cooperatively meet some cyber computation/communication objectives and constraints, there is an urgent need towards an efficient decision-making and control co-design for these cyber-physical systems. In such designs, we are required to determine distributed rules that can steer these physical plants to a steady-state corresponding to system-level decisionmaking problems. Nevertheless, the twisted complexities resulting from different aspects related to optimization, control, and computation become a great challenge to resolve such problems....     

Semantic Computation in a Chinese Question-Answering System

This paper introduces a kind of semantic computation and presents how to combine it into our Chinese Question-Answering (QA) system. Based on two kinds of language resources, Hownet and Cilin, we present an approach to computing the similarity and relevancy between words. Using these results, we can calculate the relevancy between two sentences and then get the optimal answer for the query in the system. The calculation adopts quantitative methods and can be incorporated into QA systems easily, avoiding some difficulties in conventional NLP (Natural Language Processing) problems. The experiments show that the results are satisfactory.     

Synthesizing Distributed Protocol Specifications from a UML State Machine Modeled Service Specification

The object-oriented paradigm is widely applied in designing and implementing communication systems.Unified Modeling Language(UML) is a standard language used to model the design of object-oriented systems.A protocol state machine is a UML adopted diagram that is widely used in designing communication protocols.It has two key attractive advantages over traditional finite state machines:modeling concurrency and modeling nested hierarchical states.In a distributed communication system,each entity of the system has its own protocol that defines when and how the entity exchanges messages with other communicating entities in the system.The order of the exchanged messages must conform to the overall service specifications of the system.In object-oriented systems,both the service and the protocol specifications are modeled in UML protocol state machines.Protocol specification synthesis methods have to be applied to automatically derive the protocol specification from the service specification.Otherwise,a time-consuming process of design,analysis,and error detection and correction has to be applied iteratively until the design of the protocol becomes error-free and consistent with the service specification.Several synthesis methods are proposed in the literature for models other than UML protocol state machines,and therefore,because of the unique features of the protocol state machines,these methods are inapplicable to services modeled in UML protocol state machines.In this paper,we propose a synthesis method that automatically synthesizes the protocol specification of distributed protocol entities from the service specification,given that both types of specifications are modeled in UML protocol state machines.Our method is based on the latest UML version(UML2.3),and it is proven to synthesize protocol specifications that are syntactically and semantically correct.As an example application,the synthesis method is used to derive the protocol specification of the H.323 standard used in Internet calls.     

A data mining structure platform of BSCM

The problems, such as functional coupling too close, the sharing of resources not high level, difficult to reuse software and the extendibility not good, have been exited in Data mining software. So a data mining structure platform of BSCM （Basic Semantic Characteristics Meaning） has been presented for these problems. It includes six parts of the DM application in BSCM, DMBSCM-BSCMM arbitration service, DMBSCM-BSCMM Localization service, orientation service, DMBSCM-BSCMM datum service, DMBSCM-BSCMM application resource and OS interface. It can implement separately the application and service with the characters＇ openness, flexible, reuse, extensible.     

A conceptual model of service customization and its implementation

With the development of Internet and next generation networks in telecommunications, more and more new services are required to be introduced into networks. Introducing new services into traditional network is always associated with standardizing new protocols. The progress of protocol standardization usually takes several years, which cannot meet the increasing demands of the applications in Internet and next generation networks. Service customization in network systems may be one possible solution to cope with this problem. Based on the principle that network service is provided by interactions among protocol entities, this paper proposes a conceptual model of service customization (SECUM) by separating the service logic from protocol interactive logic within existing network architecture. The theory of Communicating Sequential Processes (CSP) is used to formalize the SECUM in order to locate exactly the service logic and to define precisely the SECUM. For validating the SECUM‘s usability in practical network systems, this paper also proposes an implementation model for SECUM: a component-based protocol implementation model (CPIM). CPIM discomposes protocol entity into application component, service component, message component and communication component. Service component associates application component with message component. Users or network managers can customize network services by configuring service component. The paper shows respectively the applications of SECUM and CPIM by proposing a customizable IP service model based on SECUM and describing an implementation of Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) based on CPIM. Compared with the existing service-customization techniques, SECUM is a service customization model internal to network system and may provide more powerful capabilities of service customization.     

A Formal Semantics for DAI Language NUML

Traditional AI systems are brittle in the sense that they fail miserably when presented with problems even sliphtly outside of their limited range of expertise.A powerful,extensible strategy of Distributed Artificial Intelligence (DAI) for overcoming such bounds is to put the system in a society of systems.So the ability to coordinate group activities of individuals and to communicate between each other is necessary for a language describing DAI systems.Agent-oriented language NUML is such a language.It is a specific kind of object-oriented language.To give formal semantics to NUML,there is the problem to formalise object-oriented programming paradigm which is still open.The theory of higher-order π-calculus is a concurrent computation model with sufficient capability,which provides us a mathematical tool to do the formalization.This paper tries to use higher-order π-calculus to formalise NUML.     

CAFISE: An approach to enabling adaptive configuration of service grid applications

Aiming at building up more powerful, open-standard-based and generic infras-tructures for application integration, service grids address the challenges in large-scale coordinated sharing and on-demand composition of network-based application services. The related endeavors have opened up new ways of application development, deployment and integration. In connection with the new level of scale, openness and dynamism brought forward by service grids, adaptive service configuration is of essential importance to applications. This paper proposes an approach called CAFISE, which tries to better facilitate on-demand configuration and dynamic reconfigura-tion of service grid applications. In CAFISE, a business design and its supporting software system are considered in a coherent way, and a convergent relation, which helps to map business-level configurations to software-level configurations, is highlighted. The paper is particularly devoted to presenting and discussing the principles, reference model, modeling language and supporting application framework of CAFISE. Since practical usefulness is highly valued in the development of CAFISE, the application of the approach to a real-world scenario is also presented in the paper.     

Mapping Business Workflows onto Network Services Environment

In order to implement the common adaptability in accessing distributed resources, it is fatal for web applications to deploy business workflows onto network service environment, which is composed of Web Services and Grid Services. This paper introduces abstract resources and abstract services to express abstract workflows, and expresses executable workflows that can run in service environments by resources and service instances. Thus the deployment and execution of business workflows are transformed into two mappings： the mapping of business workflow onto abstract workflows and the mapping of abstract workflows onto executable workflows. The definition of relevant parameters used to implement automatically mapping is formulized as Application Template （AT）. The most important component of AT is the corresponding relationship between business functions and abstract workflow fragments. AT also defines the restrictions while each abstract services are utilized in certain application tasks, as well as the associated service metadata. The latter avoids superfluous metadata by service providers, and simplifies unnecessary details in matching service instances.     

Mobile agent-enabled framework for structuring and building distributed systems on the internet

Mobile agent has shown its promise as a powerful means to complement and enhance existing technology in various application areas. In particular, existing work has demonstrated that MA can simplify the development and improve the performance of certain classes of distributed applications, especially for those running on a wide-area, heterogeneous, and dynamic networking environment like the Internet. In our previous work, we extended the application of MA to the design of distributed control functions, which require the maintenance of logical relationship among and/or coordination of proc- essing entities in a distributed system. A novel framework is presented for structuring and building distributed systems, which use cooperating mobile agents as an aid to carry out coordination and cooperation tasks in distributed systems. The framework has been used for designing various distributed control functions such as load balancing and mutual ex- clusion in our previous work. In this paper, we use the framework to propose a novel ap- proach to detecting deadlocks in distributed system by using mobile agents, which dem- onstrates the advantage of being adaptive and flexible of mobile agents. We first describe the MAEDD (Mobile Agent Enabled Deadlock Detection) scheme, in which mobile agents are dispatched to collect and analyze deadlock information distributed across the network sites and, based on the analysis, to detect and resolve deadlocks. Then the design of an adaptive hybrid algorithm derived from the framework is presented. The algorithm can dynamically adapt itself to the changes in system state by using different deadlock detec- tion strategies. The performance of the proposed algorithm has been evaluated using simulations. The results show that the algorithm can outperform existing algorithms that use a fixed deadlock detection strategy.     

基于互联耦合免疫网络的突现计算模型及其服务实现

基于生物免疫系统中的互联耦合免疫网络学说，构建了一种新颖的网络突现计算模型。该模型通过生物网络结构中的生物实体之间的相互作用形成超级实体，或进一步形成超级实体网络，来实现生物网络中的服务突现。在生物网络仿真平台上，通过设计和实现生物实体、超级实体和超级实体网络之间的相互作用，验证了基于互联耦合免疫网络计算模型的突现服务能满足用户的各种需求。     

基于生物网络中间件的网络自适应性研究

自适应性网络环境将成为未来Internet的不可缺少的重要构成部分,基于生物网络中间件设计了自适应软件体系结构,然后设计了一种特殊的生物实体——调度生物实体,利用调度实体来指导生物实体的移动,以期获得生物网络的负载平衡。提出一种基于免疫遗传算法的调度算法,该算法以网络负载平衡为优化目标,使实体相对均衡地提供服务,达到合理利用生物网络资源,增强其自适应性的目的。最后,对网络服务使用进行仿真,实验结果证明了算法的有效性。     

基于SOAP协议的Agent通信语言的研究

Agent通信语言是实现多Agent系统交互与合作的基础。SOAP作为一种新的与平台无关的通信协议,可以实现异构多信息的交换,使得各孤立系统的通信变得容易。文中在分析Agent通信语言,XML,SOAP,WebService等技术的基础上,结合KQML语言提出了一种基于SOAP协议的Agent通信实现方法,这种方法的消息结构由三层组成:SOAP层、KQML层和内容层。并分析了这种三层结构的消息表示的优势及其在实际系统中的应用。     

基于生物迁移的网络动态负载平衡的研究

生物系统中的关键机理和重要原理可用于设计一种新颖的生物网络结构及其仿真平台，以满足未来Internet网络的关键需求。本文在此框架下讨论了生物实体的不同迁移方式，并探讨了将其用于网络动态负载平衡问题，给出了一种负载平衡算法。通过对网络中不同任务量在采用和不采用负载平衡策略两种情况下的仿真试验，比较了不同条件下的响应时间，验证了算法的合理性。     

基于神经内分泌免疫系统的网络计算仿真平台

机体内的神经内分泌免疫(NEI)网络对机体的整体平衡与稳定起着重要的作用。本文从NEI网络中抽象出可用于优化Internet网络结构及其计算技术的原理和机理,设计了一种新颖的生物网络计算模型,给出了其总体设计框架,讨论了生物网络平台的设计和实现。该生物网络可满足人们对未来Internet服务和应用的异构性、动态适应性、安全可靠性等关键需求。     

高性能并行PIM系统中Parcels通信机制研究

基于Processor-in-Memory（PIM）技术的高性能并行系统具有可扩展性、自适应性、鲁棒性和低功耗等特性．借助于Parcels通信机制，并行PIM系统可以实现消息驱动的计算，重叠计算与通信，降低通信系统对细粒度并行应用的影响，可充分利用PIM的内部带宽和应用局部性．文章对并行PIM系统中采用的Parcels通信机制及其特点、Parcels通信模型，以及Parcels的典型应用系统进行了着重介绍，对存在的问题进行了分析并指出了进一步的研究方向．     

基于生物网络的e service自进化组合方法研究*

借鉴生物神经内分泌和免疫系统的自进化突现机制,基于生物网络的平台提出了e-service突现的组合方法。生物实体(具有免疫行为的移动agent)代理e-service,构成为一个带有条件米兰机单元,e-service组合可以转换为米兰机演化过程。生物实体通过消息匹配和条件约束形成网络,e-service组合是由突现形成的生物实体网络提供;服务突现可以动态调整其中的服务,自组织完成服务的动态组合和管理等工作。仿真结果表明该方法具有对动态环境变化的适应性。     

基于生物实体分布感知的E-service工作流突现研究

基于生物网络平台,提出了一种E-service工作流突现方法.生物实体(具有免疫行为的移动Agent)代理E-service,构成一个自治的单元,通过分布感知确认服务关系,生物实体协商和演化完成了E-service工作流组合.采用服务相对质量的矩阵,准确地描述服务和工作流关系和E-service相对质量,最优E-service工作流组合的建立转化为带约束的最优化问题,并给出不带参数的罚函数动态演化算法解决方案.仿真表明,这种方法提高了适应性和性能.     

基于通信代价的网格资源调度算法

针对基于时间和预算限制的资源调度算法在调度数据密集型应用程序时存在的问题,提出一种新的基于通信代价的网格资源调度算法,综合考虑用户的时问限制和预算要求,根据用户作业的计算量与通信量选择具有一定计算能力,且通信代价较小的资源节点作为目标节点,通过减少此类程序提交到目标资源节点的通信代价,达到减少整个应用程序完成时间的目的。实验结果表明,该算法能够获得较好的性能。