Multi-Agent Modeling Toolkit – MAMT

Multi-agent system consists of two or more agents which cooperate/coordinate with each other in order to solve a complex problem which would be difficult or inappropriate if solved by single agent. Multi-agents are modeled using Agent Unified Modeling Language (AUML) as Unified Modeling Language (UML) notations do not fully express agent properties/behaviors. In this paper, we have proposed Multi-Agent Modeling Toolkit (MAMT) to help a designer in building rapid multi-agent based applications. The purpose of this toolkit is to create agent development environment where the developer can have various facilities like reusability of existing/developed agents, customize built-in agents, etc. MAMT provides the designer with built-in agents which are developed using Java Agent Development (JADE) framework, with the help of these designers can rapidly build multi-agent based applications. Creation and customization of built-in agents is based on the prototype inclusion design pattern and the designer can add or modify methods/behaviors according to their requirement(s); however the changes should be based on FIPA (Foundation of Intelligent Physical Agents) standards and compatible with JADE. MAMT has been evaluated on large number of sample applications; results were very promising and encourage the use of toolkit.     

An autonomous agent development environment for engineering applications

Agent technology is playing an increasingly important role in developing distributed, intelligent, and collaborative engineering applications. The innate difficulties of interoperation between heterogeneous agent communities and rapid development of multi-agent systems have motivated the emergence of FIPA specifications and the proliferation of multi-agent system platforms or toolkits that implement FIPA specifications. This paper presents a FIPA compliant multi-agent framework called Autonomous Agent Development Environment (AADE). Originating from the engineering fields, AADE can facilitate the rapid development of collaborative engineering applications (especially in engineering design and manufacturing fields) through the provision of reusable packages of agent level components and programming tools. An agent oriented engineering project on the development of a collaborative product design environment is implemented based on the facilities provided by AADE.     

Developing multi‐agent systems with a FIPA‐compliant agent framework

To ease large‐scale realization of agent applications there is an urgent need for frameworks, methodologies and toolkits that support the effective development of agent systems. Moreover, since one of the main tasks for which agent systems were invented is the integration between heterogeneous software, independently developed agents should be able to interact successfully. In this paper, we present JADE (Java Agent Development Environment), a software framework to build agent systems for the management of networked information resources in compliance with the FIPA specifications for inter‐operable intelligent multi‐agent systems. The goal of JADE is to simplify development while ensuring standard compliance through a comprehensive set of system services and agents. JADE can then be considered to be an agent middle‐ware that implements an efficient agent platform and supports the development of multi‐agent systems. It deals with all the aspects that are not peculiar to agent internals and that are independent of the applications, such as message transport, encoding and parsing, or agent life‐cycle management. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

代理技术FIPA规范支持的移动应用

提出了移动应用中的新问题，简述了基本的FIPA规范及软件代理技术，介绍了FIPA支持的移动应用的基本原理，并举例阐明。     

Intelligent Adaptive Information Agents

Adaptation in open, multi-agent information gathering systems isimportant for several reasons. These reasons include the inability toaccurately predict future problem-solving workloads, future changes inexisting information requests, future failures and additions of agents anddata supply resources, and other future task environment characteristicchanges that require system reorganization. We have developed a multi-agentdistributed system infrastructure, RETSINA (REusable Task Structure-based Intelligent Network Agents) that handles adaptation in an open Internetenvironment. Adaptation occurs both at the individual agent level as well asat the overall agent organization level. The RETSINA system has three typesof agents. Interface agents interact with the userreceiving user specifications and delivering results. They acquire, model,and utilize user preferences to guide system coordination in support of theusers tasks. Task agents help users perform tasks byformulating problem solving plans and carrying out these plans throughquerying and exchanging information with other software agents. Information agents provide intelligent access to a heterogeneouscollection of information sources. In this paper, we concentrate on theadaptive architecture of the information agents. We use as the domain ofapplication WARREN, a multi-agent financial portfolio management system thatwe have implemented within the RETSINA framework.     

Enabling run-time composition and support for heterogeneous pervasive multi-agent systems

User needs-driven and computer-supported development of pervasive heterogeneous and dynamic multi-agent systems remains a great challenge for agent research community. This paper presents an innovative approach to composing, validating and supporting multi-agent systems at run-time. Multi-agent systems (MASs) can and should be assembled quasi-automatically and dynamically based on high-level user specifications which are transformed into a shared and common goal–mission. Dynamically generating agents could also be supported as a pervasive service. Heterogeneity of MASs refers to diverse functionality and constituency of the system which include mobile as well as host associated software agents. This paper proposes and demonstrates on-demand and just-in-time agent composition approach which is combined with run-time support for MASs. Run-time support is based on mission cost-efficiency and shared objectives which enable termination, generation, injection and replacement of software agents as the mission evolves at run-time. We present the formal underpinning of our approach and describe the prototype tool – called eHermes, which has been implemented using available agent platforms. Analysis and results of evaluating eHermes are presented and discussed.     

基于XML的异构环境的Mobile Agents架构

移动Agent技术是集软件Agent技术、移动代码技术、分布式对象技术于一体的技术.移动Agent的编程语言限制了Agent平台的执行环境.然而由于java虚拟机的出现,Java的程序可以不需重新编译,就进行迁移.但是java的移动代理也需要架设平台上有java虚拟机的环境.为了实现一个真正的异构环境的系统,使用基于XML的移动Agent架构,即使用基于XML的移动Agent代码、使用UDDI技术来为Agent注册和查询、Web Services技术来进行通信.它更容易在异构的系统环境中相互通信和操作并更容易实现和在各种环境中得到运用.     

Game-based e-retailing in GOLEM agent environments

We present a prototype multi-agent system whose goal is to support a 3D application for e-retailing. The prototype demonstrates how the use of agent environments can be amongst the most promising and flexible approaches to engineer e-retailing applications. We illustrate this point by showing how the agent environment GOLEM supports social interactions and how it combines them with semantic-web technologies to develop the e-retailing application. We also describe the features of GOLEM that allow a user to engage in e-retailing activities in order to explore the virtual social environment by searching and dynamically discovering new agents, products and services.     

Agent互操作性研究

1 引言 Agent是一种具有自主性、交互性、移动性和智能性的软件主体。Agent的想法和研究起源于人工智能、人机界面设计和面向对象编程,它提供了一种新的分析、设计和实现复杂软件系统的方法和一个通用、灵活的分布式计算模式。从应用的角度来看,Agent特别适合网络环境下的Internet应用、复杂企业计算和移动计算,而分布、异构和动态则是     

An embeddable mobile agent platform supporting runtime code mobility,interaction and coordination of mobile agents and host systems

Agent technology is emerging as an important concept for the development of distributed complex systems. A number of mobile agent systems have been developed in the last decade. However, most of them were developed to support only Java mobile agents. In order to provide distributed applications with code mobility, this article presents a library, the Mobile-C library, that allows a mobile agent platform, Mobile-C, to be embeddable in an application to support mobile C/C++ codes carried by mobile agents. Mobile-C uses a C/C++ interpreter as its Agent Execution Engine (AEE). Through the Mobile-C library, Mobile-C can be embedded into an application to support mobile C/C++ codes carried by mobile agents. Using mobile C/C++ codes, it is easy to interface a variety of low-level hardware devices and legacy systems. Through the Mobile-C library, Mobile-C can run on heterogeneous platforms with various operating systems. The Mobile-C library has a small footprint to meet the stringent memory capacity for applications in mechatronic and embedded systems. The Mobile-C library contains different categories of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) in both binary and agent spaces to facilitate the design of mobile agent based applications. In addition, a rich set of existing APIs for the C/C++ interpreter employed as the AEE allows an application to have complete information and control over the mobile C/C++ codes residing in Mobile-C. With the synchronization mechanism provided by the Mobile-C library for both binary and agent spaces, simultaneous processes across both spaces can be coordinated to get correct runtime order and avoid unexpected race condition. The study of performance comparisons indicates that Mobile-C is about two times faster than JADE in agent migration. The application of the Mobile-C library is illustrated by dynamic runtime control of a mobile robot’s behavior using mobile agents.     

Agent系统的软件工程过程

Agent技术和多Agent系统是解决许多复杂、分布应用的有效途径。该文讨论了建立多Agent系统的软件工程方法,内容包括:如何给出多Agent系统的需求描述,这些描述如何转化为高效的实现形式,如何检查多Agent系统的实现与其描述一致等。并用一些实例进行了说明。     

XML在多代理系统中的应用

随着软件系统复杂度的不断提高,在软件开发应用中多代理系统越来越显示出重要的作用。多代理系统的通信语言的研究也就越来越迫切。该文讨论了多代理系统的通信语言,提出以XML作为多代理系统的通信语言,并对此做了探讨。     

FIPA-compliant agents for real-time control of Intelligent Network traffic

Autonomy, adaptability, scalability, and flexible communications are all attributes of agents and multi-agent systems which suggest that they may offer timely solutions for dealing with the growing complexity of the tasks of traffic control and resource management in telecommunications networks. However, if agent-based solutions to network management problems are to be successful then it will be important that heterogeneous agents and agent platforms inter-operate in accordance with internationally accepted standards. Although standards of this nature are being developed, they are not tailored specifically to the needs of the telecommunications domain, with the result that important issues, such as support for the operation of agent systems in real-time constrained environments, do not seem to be adequately addressed. We present two agent-based systems for control of traffic load and resource allocation in Intelligent Networks. One of these strategies is based on the concepts of `Market-based Control', the other on the concepts of `Ant Colony Optimisation'. Using the market-based strategy as an example we show that enhancements to existing FIPA specifications would be required to implement these strategies in order to satisfy their real-time operation constraints. We also suggest a number of potential enhancements to FIPA specifications that would alleviate some of the identified problems.     

The State of the Art in Agent Communication Languages

Like societies of humans, there is a need for agents in a multi-agent system to rely on one another, enlist the support of peers in order to solve complex tasks. Agents will be able to cooperate only through a meaningful communication language that can bear correctly their mental states and convey precisely the content of their messages. In search for the ideal agent communication language (ACL), several initiatives like the pioneering work of the Knowledge Sharing Effort and the Foundation for Intelligent Physical Agents (FIPA) are paving the way for a platform where all agents would be able to interact regardless of their implementation environment. ACL is a new field of study that could gain from a survey in expanding its application areas. For this purpose, we examine in this paper the state of the art in ACL design and suggest some principles for building a generalized ACL framework. We then evaluate some existing ACL models, and present the current issues in ACL research, and new perspectives. Received 22 July 1999 / Revised 23 March 2000 / Accepted 2 May 2000     

Agent通信语言及相关理论的研究

在多代理系统里，为了实现某一目标，Agent需要通信和交互。因此，设计一个理想的Agent通信语言就显得十分重要。Agent通信语言的实现涉及的因素，除了语言本身外，还包括Agent理论、语义、证明和会话策略等。该文就Agent通信语言和相关理论作了简单的分析并指出存在的问题。     

基于FIPA-Agent的混合式制造单元控制系统研究

为了使制造单元控制系统具有自治性、合作性、可重构性及易维护性等特性,文章在FIPA-Agent技术规范的基础上,提出了制造单元混合式控制系统结构体系;同时对控制系统中通用Agent功能结构进行了较详细的设计,建立了基于JADE的控制系统软件结构。在此基础上,进行了控制系统中各个功能实体的FIPA-Agent设计;最后,在MSWinProfessional2000、JADE和JAVA环境下,进行原型系统的开发、评价,并得到初步的结果。     

Communication infrastructure in distributed scheduling

The emergence of distributed artificial intelligent (DAI) introduced a new approach to solve scheduling problems by a set of scheduling systems that interact with each other in the problem-solving process. In this paper, we describe a communication infrastructure to handle connection and communication between distributed Internet scheduling systems for distributed applications. First, we present an agent model of distributed scheduling systems where agents can communicate and coordinate activities with each other via an agent communication language. Then, we define the syntax and semantics for the agent communication languages, and negotiation mechanism. Following that, we discuss the design and development of the prototype for the multi-agent scheduling systems. We conclude with a discussion of communication issues for heterogeneous agent-based scheduling systems to solve distributed scheduling problems.