Showing papers on "Contract Net Protocol published in 2007"

A Framework for Web service negotiation

Abstract: In a survey on the theory and practice of agent system deployment, conducted by the AgentLink workgroup on networked agents, it was found that there are an increasing number of initiatives for the migration of agents research towards new Internet technologies such as the semantic web, Grid, and Web services. In fact, Grid computing and multi-agent systems research have similar objectives. They both aim to achieve “large-scale open distributed systems, capable of being able to effectively and dynamically deploy and redeploy computational (and other) resources as required, to solve computationally complex problems” [Foster and Kesselman 2003]. On the one hand, service-oriented Grid architectures need to support dynamic cooperation, negotiation, and adaptive interactions between Web services controlling Grid resources for efficient resource and task allocation and execution. On the other hand, the Grid can facilitate agent communication, life-cycle management, and access to resources for agents. Although the relevance of Grid for agent research and vice versa has been identified in several forums, actual collaborative applications are still in their infancy. In this article, we discuss our recent work on deploying multi-agent negotiation techniques to facilitate dynamic negotiation for Grid resources as a step closer to an adaptive and autonomous Grid. In particular, we describe a Web service development of the Contract Net Protocol for negotiation between insurance companies and repair companies. We evaluate our approach to show the added value of negotiable interactions between Web services as opposed to inflexible single-shot interactions that are currently the state of the art.

Specifying and Verifying Cases Retrieval System Combining Event B and Spin

Abstract: This paper presents a complete study for the specification and mechanical verification of cases retrieval systems (CRS) within the generic framework that supports the many-to-many connection of formal development environments and model checkers. We aim at combining on an example, refinement techniques, verification by theorem proving and model checking in an entire development, to guarantee software correctness properties. We first build a underlying abstract system using a roles-based collaboration model, then describe a practical approach for increasingly developing flexible and reliable formal specifications of CRS using event B, exemplified on contract net protocol (CNP) as interaction contract. A proper translator is introduced as the bridge between formal specifications and model checkers. This entire development is mechanically proved with respect to safety properties using B tool and, complementally, with respect to liveness properties using the SPIN tool.

A hybrid algorithm based on particle swarm optimization and simulated annealing to holon task allocation for holonic manufacturing system

Abstract: Manufacturing is currently undergoing a revolutionary transition with focus shifting from mass production to mass customization. This trend motivates a new generation of advanced manufacturing systems that can dynamically respond to customer orders and changing production environments. It is becoming increasingly important to develop control architectures that are reconfigurable and fault tolerant. A holonic manufacturing system (HMS) is a system of holons that can cooperate to achieve a common goal or objective. The holonic organization enables the construction of very complex systems that are efficient in the use of resources. This paper focuses on the dynamic re-configuration and task optimization of holonic manufacturing systems (HMS). The concept of dynamic virtual clustering is extended to the control process of a holarchy or holonic organization. A task-oriented clustering mechanism and a corresponding optimization algorithm are presented as an efficient approach to the holonic control in the HMS domain. The mediator-based dynamic virtual clustering mechanism is presented firstly. Then a negotiation strategy based on the contract net protocol is proposed for cooperative action among holons. Finally, a hybrid algorithm based on particle swarm optimization (PSO) and simulated annealing (SA) for holon task allocation is described to support the optimum organization of a holarchy. The hybrid algorithm combines the high speed of PSO with the powerful ability to avoid being trapped in local minimum of SA. Simulation results show that the proposed model and algorithm are effective.

Competitive Contract Net Protocol

Abstract: The proposed Competitive Contract Net Protocol has been designed to facilitate a flexible cooperation in competitive multi-agent environments and to support automated or semi-automated negotiations in competitive domains. The protocol is based on FIPA standards. The protocol covers not only the phase of contracting the commitments, but also allows for a decommitment negotiation and contract termination. Thus, it consists of three phases: (i) a contracting phase, where conditions of agreement are concluded, (ii) an optional decommitment phase, where contract may be breached, and (iii) a contract termination phase, where the compliance with the concluded contract conditions is evaluated. Both the decommitment and non-compliance are bounded with penalties which measurably ensure a compliance with the commitments, but also allow an opportunistic behaviour of the agents at some price.

Scheduling in Holonic Manufacturing Systems

Abstract: This chapter presents some of the issues concerning holonic manufacturing systems. It starts by presenting the current manufacturing scenario and trends and then provides some background information on the holonic concept and its application to manufacturing. The current limitations and future trends of manufacturing suggest more autonomous and distributed organisations for manufacturing systems; holonic manufacturing systems are proposed as a way to achieve such autonomy and decentralisation. After a brief literature survey, a specific research study is presented to handle scheduling in holonic manufacturing systems. This work is based on task and resource holons that cooperate with each other based on a variant of the contract net protocol that allow the propagation of constraints between operations in the execution plan. The chapter ends by presenting some challenges and future opportunities for research.

Multi-agent based Autonomous Power Distribution Network Restoration by using Contract Net Protocol

Abstract: A nobel multi-agent-based system with the contract net protocol (CNP) for achieving distributed approach for power distribution network restoration is proposed. Agents in the proposed system are assigned to each area sectioned by switches, and exchange environmental information among them at all times. The information is used for constructing a overlay network of the CNP against network accidents. Parameters of CNP required for the robustness and effectiveness are optimized by the genetic algorithm (GA) in the operation phase. When a network accident occurs, the agents restore the power distribution service autonomously through the overlay network constructed by CNP. Simulation experiments indicate that the CNP allows the power distribution network to make effective strategy of the restoration by each agent cooperating.

Agent-based interbay system control for a single-loop semiconductor manufacturing fab

Abstract: This study investigates agent-based interbay control of a wafer fabrication facility with a single-loop track. Doing so will simultaneously resolve the production scheduling and vehicle dispatching problems for an interbay over-hoist-transportation system which is commonly employed in the semiconductor manufacturing industry. Two issues are focused on in this study: (i) To design appropriate agent-based control architecture for an interbay system and (ii) to develop a coordination mechanism for the autonomous agents in the interbay system, so that wafer manufacturing tasks can be accomplished efficiently. In this study, we construct a distributed interbay system architecture, in which wafer cassettes, vehicles, and manufacturing cells with stockers are modelled as independent and autonomous agents. This study develops an agent coordination mechanism that is based on a vehicle-initiated contract net protocol. Three types of bidding strategies are proposed and empirically examined via simulation. The perfor...

Performance variation due to interference among a large number of self-interested agents

Abstract: The performance features of a massively multi-agent system (MMAS) when applying the contract net protocol (CNP) are examined. The recent growth in the volume of e-commerce on the Internet is increasing the opportunities for coordinated transactions by agents, concurrently occurring everywhere. Because of limited CPU and network resources, running many interactive tasks among agents can lower the quality or efficiency of MMASs. Although CNP is a widely used negotiation protocol that can allocate tasks and resources to appropriate agents, it is unclear how effectively CNP works in an MMAS where thousands of agents work together and interfere with each other. The performance of CNP in such an MMAS, especially the overall efficiency and the reliability of promised completion times, is investigated by using an MAS simulation environment. The results show that only manager- side control of CNP can improve performance in an MMAS.

Study on Multi-agent Task Allocation Based on the Contract Net

Abstract: A task allocation problem from the complex industry process, such as a multiple packing product line and a workpieces supplying automatic product system, is extracted. The resolving of this problem using multi-agent techniques was given and simulated. A goal by the constraints of integrated reliability, energy consuming and the influence to the environment of the system is proposed in this paper. The negotiation process based on contract net protocol was built up for the cooperation and the coordination, and the arithmetic of task allocation process was given at the last of this paper based on this protocol. A generalized dissipated matrix was proposed to replace the coefficient matrix of standard Hungary arithmetic. The factors which influence the task allocation, and the ways to calculate those factors were given in detail, and the arithmetic of task allocation was given at the end.

Coordination and Communication among Topic Specific Search Agents

Abstract: In topic-specific search field, most researchers focus on the single agent how to crawl on the Web. However, we want to mainly discuss the coordination among multi-agent in topic-specific search engine in this paper. We divide the topic-specific search agents (TSSA) into two types: f-agent and c-agent. The former makes task plans, manages the c-agents as well as deals with the communications among TSSA, whereas the latter crawls on the Web for retrieving the relevant pages. We introduce the computational architecture of the two agents respectively, and explain the cooperation and competition among them in more detail. Based on the contract net protocol, a negotiation protocol is proposed to control the cooperation and competition among TSSA.

A Multi-agent Negotiation Protocol Based on Extended Case Based Reasoning

Abstract: This paper describes a new Multi-Agent architecture and a task allocation protocol proposed inter-agent cooperation in a multi-agent system. The negotiation protocol is contract net protocol (CNP). The broadcast of the Task Announcement on CNP tends to consume much communication load and its performance degrades drastically when the number of communicating agents and the number of tasks announced increase. In order to overcome this problem, the CNP based on extended case based reasoning (ECBR) is presented, it can reduce the scope of competitors and communication load on task negotiation, make a distinct improvement to the efficiency. To ensure a better cooperation between agents and adapt to higher flexibility of system, Several parameters such as forget coefficienttime coefficient and a special case are defined in extended CBR. Experimental results show the performance of this negotiation protocol based on extended CBR improves significantly.

Carrier selection in various sections of multi-modal transport based on multi-Agent

Abstract: The carrier selection in various sections is the key perspect of achieving maximum integrate efficiency and benefit in multimodal transportA method was proposed for the optimization of the carrirer selection in network enviromnet by inviting and submitting a tender based on multiagentIn this method,the Java-based Agent framework was adopted and the architecture based on multi-Agent was developedThe Ontology-based modeling for the carrier selection was also discussedThe decision support methods for the carrier selection,including utility theory and group decision technology based on multi-Agent negotiation,were expoundedThe model of inviting and submitting a tender based on ameliorated contract net protocol was designedThe results of systematic simulation confirmed the effectiveness of the proposed approach

Project Management and Risk Management in Complex Projects: Studies in Organizational Semiotics

Abstract: Management of Projects in their Early Phase.- Using Problem Articulation Method to Assist Planning and Management of Complex Project.- Omissions in Managing Knowledge in Innovation Processes or How to Handle Knowledge, Humans and Tasks: A Semio-Cognitive Approach.- Viewpoint-Centred Methodology to Design Project/Subcontract Cooperation Policies.- Risk Management.- A Contribution to a Semiotic Approach of Risk Management.- Organizational Semiotics and Multi-Agent Paradigm.- Norm-Based Contract Net Protocol for Coordination in Multi-Agent Systems.- Interaction of Simulated Actors with the Environment.- Transformation of Information.- Semiotic Transformation from Business Domain to IT Domain in Information Systems Development.- Comparative Analysis of Ontology Charts and other Modelling Techniques.- The Separation of Data and Information in Database Systems under an Organisational Semiotics Framework.- Towards a Social-Based Process for Information System Development: A Case Study.- Application of Organizational Semiotics.- A Semiotic Framework for Research into Self-Configuring Computer Networks.- The Semiotics of Usage-Centred Design.

Norm-Based Contract Net Protocol for Coordination in Multi-Agent Systems

Abstract: Due to some inherent problems in the conventional contract net protocol,this paper proposed a norm-based CNP to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the coordination processes in a multi-agent systemFirst,put forward a three-dimensional taxonomy of norm in terms of the hierarchy,type and flexibility of normsThen developed a coordination process guided by norm-based CNP under the taxonomy frameworkThe new coordination process consisted of two principal stages and five sub-divided phases,provided a feasible solution for the optimization of the candidate selection

Improved dynamic contract net protocol

Abstract: This paper improves the Dynamic Contract Net Protocol and gives an Improved Dynamic Contract Net ProtocolIn this protocol,the manager takes the cost of contractors about given task into account when made a decisionAnd the paper gives the concrete arithmeticMany experiments on the platform REPAST show the advantages of the Improved Dynamic Contract Net Protocol

An Enhancement Dynamic Contract Net Protocol

Abstract: In the paper, we do some enhancement based on DCNP In the EDCNP, we improved the credibility update rules and lead credibility range[min, max] and the volatilization into the algorithm In this way we can reduce the amount of calculating and improve the system efficiency efficiently The experiment proved that the algorithm is available

Application of Event B to Modelling Multiagent Interactions

Abstract: With increasingly complexity in MAS, rigorous design practices are needed in case of critical applications. Event B, which provides an accessible and rigorous formal approach to development of such complex system, is ideal for the formal modelling of reactive systems. In this paper we present a part of ongoing work in this area. A practical approach for developing flexible and reliable formal specifications of MAS using Event B is described, exemplified on contract net protocol (CNP) in the interaction of MAS, associating an intelligent shape and style design systems in automobile.

Extending Contract Net Protocol for Arguing Agents

Abstract: Negotiation is a technique through which two agents having conflicting interest s reach an agreement that is beneficial for both of them. Argumentation-based negotiation is a better form of negotiation where one negotiating agent argues with another to justify its position and influences the other agent to follow it. This increases the likelihood and quality of agreement in a negotiation process. In this paper, we present an interaction protocol to support argumentation-based negotiation in agent-based e-commerce. We extend the widely used Contract Net protocol for the purpose with a set of performatives essential for argumentation scenario.

Dynamic Scheduling Approach Based on Interactive Bidding in Contract Net Protocol

Abstract: Flexible manufacturing system provides alternative processing routes to produce the same product So the scheduling systems must take into account machine scheduling Dispatching rules (DRsare the most common and significant approach in the dynamic scheduling system Existing rule-based scheduling approaches seldom address the machine selection in the scheduling process Considering both the job selection and machine selection, we present the contract net protocol rule (CNP-rulethrough the interactive bidding process Five CNP-rules approaches are proposed and constructed using dispatching rules for solving job-shop scheduling problems We provide the experimental results and analyses of multiple CNP-rules based scheduling Competitive results demonstrate that the CNP-rule approach not only yields evident increase in the system performance, but also gets better equipment utilization and load balancing level for the scheduling system

Research on MAS-based Mission Planning for Distributed Satellite System

Abstract: The planning and scheduling problem of distributed satellite system(DSS) was investigated,and a distributed planning and scheduling approach for DSS was proposed based on negotiation of multiple agent system(MAS).A layered distributed architecture of MAS for DSS was desinged,and the functions of agents for different layers was presented elaborately.An contract-net-based coordinate protocol between different satellite agents was proposed.A priority-based strategy was designed to select the bid mission and the bid approach based on dynamic task insertion was proposed.The appropriate evaluation strategy and corresponding objective function were given.Aiming at some dynamic observation situations,corresponding dynamic mission conversion processes were designed.A satellite formation example was presented to demonstrate the validity of the distributed planning and scheduling approach.

Robot Heterogeneity Analysis Based on Extenics

Abstract: This paper presents a new method that robot heterogeneities are described by using an extension model based on Extenics, which is a new discipline and a new branch of artificial intelligence. Individual robot is the basic unit of a multi- robot system. The whole system's performance is determined by individual's capability. Heterogeneity determines a robot's difference in behavior and ability. Studying robot's heterogeneity is the foundation for the entire system to achieve the optimum state. This paper first analyses heterogeneous characters of robot generally, then an extension model is established to show heterogeneous characteristics. This extension model is used for task allocation which is based on contract net protocol. At the end, simulation is conducted in a multi-robot system. Simulation results validate this method.

A Multi-Agent Based Autonomic Management Architecture for Large-Scale Server Clusters

Abstract: As the size of the server cluster increases, management of clusters has been a daunting task. Traditional management architecture of cluster system fails in providing efficient management as the scale of a cluster increases. In this paper, a novel management architecture of a large-scale cluster system, called cooperation-oriented hierarchical autonomic architecture (CHAA), has been proposed to achieve an efficient management. We employed multi-agents to construct CHAA. Considering that the intrusion caused by bidding increases dramatically when the number of agents is large, we proposed hierarchical Contract Net Protocol (HCNP) to relieve the overhead. Generalized partial global planning (GPGP) has been introduced into CHAA to enable agents recognize their potential interrelationship and it has been combined with HCNP as the cooperation method of agents in CHAA. We made performance measurement on the traditional management architecture and CHAA, and the results showed that CHAA is a light weight management architecture which promises good scalability.

General model for dynamic contract net protocol based on object-oriented Petri net

Abstract: The traditional contract net protocol model which works on bids invitation between a manager Agent and contractor Agents can successfully realize the cooperation and complete the goal task among AgentsBut it also faces many problems such as the high traffic and weak general availabilityTherefore,the Object-Oriented Petri net and the concept of object Agent were used to describe the dynamic contract net protocolThe analysis shows that this new model is live,concurrent and can lighten the traffic and enhance the general availability

Tactical Battlefield Entities Simulation Model Based on Multi-agent Interactions

Abstract: Tactical warfare process, e.g., engagement between opposite forces, is full of unpredictability and platform-level interactions that result great difficulties in performing battlefield entities simulation. In this paper, modeling and simulation based on multi-agent interactions is applied to solve the problem. Based on the analysis on the requirement and countermeasure, the mapping from tactical warfare system's members, i.e. platform-level tactical battlefield entities, to respective intelligent agents is set up. Thus, the multi-agent platform-level tactical battlefield entities simulation system and its agent model are designed. Tactical battlefield entity agent interactions model is presented to support simulation based on multi-agent interactions by using an improved Contract Net Protocol. The established demonstration system proves the feasibility and efficiency of our model and shows its advantages in realizing platform-level military simulation.

Public Logistics Network Protocol Design and Implementation

Abstract: A public logistics network (PLN) is proposed as an alternate network to private logistics networks for the ground transport of parcels. In a PLN, a pricing protocol is used to coordinate the operation of the network. The goal of the proposed protocol is to match the load that values transport the highest with the truck that can provide that service at the least cost. This protocol has been implemented using the Microsoft .NET framework. The implementation specifies DC services and the package bidding process. Total logistics cost (TLC) is used to evaluate the performance of the protocol. The protocol is compared to a FIFO protocol under several different scenarios.