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Commitments and conventions: The foundation of coordination in multi-agent systems

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 July 2009

Nick R. Jennings
Affiliation:
Department of Electronic Engineering, Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London, Mile End Road, London EI 4NS, UK

Abstract

Distributed Artificial Intelligence systems, in which multiple agents interact to improve their individual performance and to enhance the systems' overall utility, are becoming an increasingly pervasive means of conceptualising a diverse range of applications. As the discipline matures, researchers are beginning to strive for the underlying theories and principles which guide the central processes of coordination and cooperation. Here agent communities are modelled using a distributed goal search formalism, and it is argued thatcommitments (pledges to undertake a specific course of action) andconventions (means of monitoring commitments in changing circumstances) are the foundation of coordination in multi-agent systems. An analysis of existing coordination models which use concepts akin to commitments and conventions is undertaken before a new unifying framework is presented. Finally, a number of prominent coordination techniques which do notexplicitly involve commitments or conventions are reformulated in these terms to demonstrate their compliance with the central hypothesis of this paper.

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Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1993

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