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Books

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	* Danny Weyns et al., ''Environments for Multi-Agent Systems'', Proceedings of First International Workshop, E4MAS 2004, Springer LNAI 3374 (2005) ISBN 3540245758		* Danny Weyns et al., ''Environments for Multi-Agent Systems'', Proceedings of First International Workshop, E4MAS 2004, Springer LNAI 3374 (2005) ISBN 3540245758

	* A new MAS book from Yoav Shoham and Kevin Leyton-Brown, published by		* A new MAS book from Yoav Shoham and Kevin Leyton-Brown, published by Cambridge University Press in 2009: [Multiagent Systems http://www.masfoundations.org/download.html]
	Cambridge University Press in 2009: [Multiagent Systems http://www.masfoundations.org/download.html]

	[[Category:Systems]]		[[Category:Systems]]

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Books

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:35, 16 February 2011
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	* Gerhard Weiss (Editor), ''Multiagent Systems: A Modern Approach to Distributed Artificial Intelligence'', The MIT Press, 2000, ISBN 0262731312		* Gerhard Weiss (Editor), ''Multiagent Systems: A Modern Approach to Distributed Artificial Intelligence'', The MIT Press, 2000, ISBN 0262731312
	* Michael Wooldridge, ''Introduction to MultiAgent Systems'', John Wiley & Sons, 2002, ISBN 047149691X		* Michael Wooldridge, ''Introduction to MultiAgent Systems'', John Wiley & Sons, 2002, ISBN 047149691X
			* Danny Weyns et al., ''Environments for Multi-Agent Systems'', Proceedings of First International Workshop, E4MAS 2004, Springer LNAI 3374 (2005) ISBN 3540245758

	* ~~Danny Weyns et al.~~, ~~''Environments for Multi-Agent~~ Systems~~'', Proceedings of First International Workshop, E4MAS 2004, Springer LNAI 3374 (2005) ISBN 3540245758~~		* A new MAS book from Yoav Shoham and Kevin Leyton-Brown, published by
			Cambridge University Press in 2009: [Multiagent Systems http://www.masfoundations.org/download.html]

	[[Category:Systems]]		[[Category:Systems]]

Jfromm: New page: A '''Multi-Agent System''' (MAS) is a system composed of several autonomous agents which are able to interact and communicate with each other. In software, MAS are realised as so...

2008-08-30T11:22:26Z

New page: A '''Multi-Agent System''' (MAS) is a system composed of several autonomous agents which are able to interact and communicate with each other. In software, MAS are realised as so...

New page

A '''Multi-Agent System''' (MAS) is a system composed of several autonomous [[Agent|agents]] which are able to interact and communicate with each other. In software, MAS are realised as software agents. The field of MAS is related to [[Distributed Artificial Intelligence|Distributed Artificial Intelligence (DAI)]] and also to [[Distributed System|distributed systems]]. MAS is also an abbreviation for ''Mobile Agent System''. Normally, Mobile Agent Systems are also Multi-Agent Systems, but generally with less emphasis on intelligence but on mobility.

== Elements ==

[[Image:Agenten.png|right|thumb|200px|Agents represented by abstract actors or persons]]

Basic elements of a MAS are (a) the '''agents''' themselves (b) their '''interaction''' and '''communication''' (c) the necessary '''middleware''' or '''environment'''. Another important but optional element is (d) organization. If the system as a whole
should fulfil a function, it needs certainly a kind of organization.
The name MAS may be understood as the community of autonomous, interacting agents, which emphasizes the aspect (a), or as the support system together with its agent community, which highlights aspect (c).
As Wooldridge says in his MAS book (2002), the idea of a MAS is simple: "An agent is a computer system that is capable of
independent action on behalf of its user or owner. In other words, an agent can figure out for itself what it needs to
do in order to satisfy its design objectives, rather than having to be told explicitly what to do at any given
moment. A multiagent system is one that consists of a number of agents, whicht interact with one another, typically
by exchanging messages through some computer network infrastructure."

=== Autonomous Agents ===

As the name says, a Multi-Agent System is a system composed of several autonomous [[Agent|agents]]. Agents are of course the most basic parts and elements of any Multi-Agent System. The agents vary in their number, mobility, intelligence and internal architecture. A MAS can be defined as a collection of autonomous agents that interact to solve problems that are beyond the individual capabilities or knowledge of each agent. Katia P. Sycara enumerates three major characteristics of multiagent systems in her AI Magazine article about "Multiagent systems" (1998): (1) each agent has incomplete information or capabilities for solving the problem and, thus, has a limited viewpoint; (2) there is no system global control; (3) data are decentralized; and (4) computation is asynchronous. This means that the actions and decisions of the individual agents must be based on local information and situations, the agents must interact and cooperate with each other to solve the common goals, and they can communicate with messages which can arrive at any time. In other words, MAS have many properties associated with building traditional concurrent or [[Distributed System|distributed systems]].

=== Interaction and Communication ===

Communication is a central property of any [[Distributed System|distributed system]], and it is very important in MAS. A basic from of communication is "physical interaction" through collision or being at the same place. In principle any language could be used, as long as the agents can understand each other. To make agents understand each other they have to speak the same language, and have to share a common knowledge, for example a kind of [[Ontology|ontology]]. An ontology for agents describes what kind of things an agent can deal with and how they are related to each other.

The communication between agents can happen through '''direct communication''' with messages and proprietary languages, but also through a special standard [[Agent Communication Language]] (ACL) like FIPA ACL, KQML (Knowledge Query and Manipulation Language) or KIF. The usage of a standard agent communication language makes of course only sense if there is a standard middleware or environment for agents, which is not the case at the moment. [http://www.fipa.org/specs/fipa00037/ FIPA ACL] and KQML rely on [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speech_act speech act] theory developed by Searle 1960 and define a set of performatives and their meaning. FIPA ACL defines a set of four primitive communicative acts: Inform (a proposition), Request (an action), Confirm and Disconfirm (involve uncertain beliefs), and approximately 18 composite communicative act types. The syntax in both languages, FIPA ACL and KQML is based in LISP. An example for FIPA ACL is, see [http://www.cs.helsinki.fi/u/kraatika/Courses/Agents/fipa-acl.html]

(inform (request
:sender agent1 :sender i
:receiver hpl-auction-server :receiver j
:content :content "buy microsoft stocks immediately"
(price (bid good02) 150) :language human)
:in-reply-to round04
:reply-with bid04
:language sl
:ontology hpl-auction)

The first element of a FIPA ACL message is the communicative act which
defines the message type (request, refuse, agree, inform,..) while the rest
is a sequence of message parameters. "Inform" and "Request" are the two basic
performatives in FIPA ACL.

Communication can occur through multiple ways in complex multi-modal environments. It can for example happen through '''indirect communication''' by changing the environment. This is the principle used in [[Stigmergy|stigmergy]] and many [[Ant-Based Systems|ant-based systems]], which use or model biochemical substances and evaporating scents like pheromones.

=== Middleware and Environment ===

The environment is an essential component in any Multiagent System (MAS).
It is a basic part of the perceive-reason-act cycle for agents, or
simply "the world" and the "landscape" in which the agents live, act,
and interact with each other. Russell and Norvig say in their AI book
that "an agent is anything that can be viewed as perceiving its environment
through sensors and acting upon the environment through effectors".

Almost no commonly used, multi-purpose computing environment offers direct support for MAS. Therefore, some framework or middleware is required to support the execution of the software agents of a MAS. This middleware may be provided by some tool library which cares for creating and managing agents and their interactions. Because of the importance of the infrastructural support, this infrastructure is sometimes also called a MAS.

The most important property of a MAS is to provide an environment for entities to act as autonomous [[Agent|agents]]. An optimal environment for adaptive agents is of course very complex. Environments are essential elements of MAS. They are much more than a message transport system. They can store gradient fields, pheromone traces and evaporating marks that guide agents to certain places, they can support the collaboration of agents through constraints, they provide complex information for learning and they determine the fitness in all evolutionary systems (see Danny Wenys et al., ''Environments for MAS'', Springer LNAI 3374, 2005).

Each [[Agent|agent]] in a MAS has only incomplete local information, which results in decentralized or distributed control, high complexity, asynchronous computation and communication, and dynamic behavior to some extend. Wooldridge and Jennings recently suggested that typical properties of MAS are [[Emergence|emergence]] and [[Self-Organization|self-organization]]. This is certainly still not affirmative for ''all'' current MAS implementations. If the environment for example does not support any form of pheromone, a process like [[Stigmergy|stigmergy]] (the basic instrument for many forms of [[Swarm Intelligence]]) is hardly possible. However, continuing this notion, MAS are the best or probably only candidate to experience, simulate and study these phenomena.

What functions do environments have in MASs ? According to Danny Weyns et al., ''Environments for MAS'', Springer LNAI 3374, 2005,

* they "structure" MASs through spatial organization
* they "organize" perception, interaction and communication (only agents within a certain distance can communicate and interact with each other, i.e. the environment determines the range of communication: short-range vs. long-range)
* they offer basic message transport and transmission systems
* they can be a shared memory for agents
* they store the "state" of the system
* they determine the "context" of agents
* they are a medium for indirect interaction and coordination (classical blackboard communication, stigmergy, storage for pheromones, gradient fields and evaporating marks which guide agents in their local context,..)

What forms of environments exist ?

* discrete or continuous environments
* spatial or geographic environments
* "simulated environments" (simulated worlds) vs. "simulation environments" (frameworks, middleware,..)

=== Organization ===

Many [[AOSE]] methodologies use abstractions and concepts from the social sciences
related to organizations and organizational patterns or structures: for a single
agent terms like role, position, responsibility or permission, for a group
of agents social terms like organization, law or norm.
This is no accident, because agent-oriented systems resemble in fact natural societies,
whereas traditional object-oriented systems are more like physical machines.
If the Multi-Agent System as a whole should have a purpose, fulfil a particular function or solve
a certain task or problem, it needs a kind of organization. This organization can be
a kind of [[Self-Organization|self-organization]], [[Peer-to-Peer]] architecture, hierarchical structure,
or dynamic role based approach. The organizations of the total system corresponds roughly to the
architecture of each individual agent, although it can have certainly a more or less rigid structure.

== Applications ==

MAS are often studied for their own sake, because they are fascinating
subjects and more or less easy to create with traditional object-oriented
programming languages. The obvious drawback in this case is that you don't
know what your agents are good for, and you tend to create your own
problems. After you have created your own agent system, it is easy
to stay busy with security and communication mechanisms, visual editors
to edit plans, behaviors and states of agents,... In the
end you only revolve around yourself and start to wonder if the agent
system has a real function or purpose at all. Contrary to object-oriented
systems, which are usually constructed in order to fulfil a certain function,
a Multi-Agent System does not need to have a real function or purpose.
Of course if it is constructed well it can be used for a purpose.
There are mainly three different application types: distributed software
applications, simulation of complex systems, and exploration of virtual
environents.

=== Software Applications ===

Wether agents can be used to build useful or even revolutionary software
is still controversial and subject to debates in the field of [[AOSE]].
As Wooldridge says in his MAS book (2002), software applications working with agents
can be divided into two main groups:
* Distributed Systems: agents are embedded in a [[Distributed System|distributed system]]
* Personal Software assistants: individual agents play the role of proactive assistants to users

Agents can be used in principle for workflow and business process management,
for information retrieval and management, and for electronic commerce (for example auctions).
In practice the Internet is a hostile environment for mobile and intelligent agents,
which makes it difficult to find useful applications. Mobile agents are not allowed to
move to arbitrary computers or to cross organizational boundaries, and intelligent
agents can not understand ordinary websites (except a very small machine readable part
in form of the [[Semantic_Web|semantic web]]).

=== Simulation ===

MAS can be used to simulate many natural and social systems, and [[Complex System|complex systems]] in general. They can store gradient fields, pheromone traces and evaporating marks that guide agents to certain places, they can support the collaboration of agents through constraints, they provide complex information for learning and they determine the fitness in all evolutionary systems (see Danny Weyns et al., ''Environments for MAS'', Springer LNAI 3374, 2005). The simulation of social systems is especially
interesting because many abstract social concepts become concrete, observable and measurable phenomena
in MASs. They concern the types of social relationships and [[Agent interaction pattern|interaction patterns]].

=== Exploration ===

According to MIT researcher Pattie Maes "the autonomous agent approach is appropriate for the class of problems that require a system to autonomously fulfill several goals in a dynamic, unpredictable environment" [Maes (1994)]. MAS are useful for the

* exploration of ''virtual'' worlds with mobile ''agents''
* exploration of ''real'' worlds with mobile ''robots''

Since the number of complex virtual worlds is limited up to date, and there is no standard agent middleware
or agent-friendly environment in the Internet, they are used mainly for simulation purposes, especially for the
simulation of complex systems. An important application in the real world is the development of exploration
and control techniques for mobile robots and distributed vehicles.

== Challenges ==

=== Advantages and Disadvantages ===

The list of advantages and positive properties usually attributed to MAS
is quite impressive:

* robustness, fault-tolerance
* scalability, concurrency
* adaptability, flexibility

Yet they seem to have a price. There are also a lot of disadvantages and
drawbacks, compared to traditional software systems:

* limited predictability, understandability and control
* accident- and error-prone system
* restricted reliability for computational purposes

Although a MAS is reliable in the SPOF sense that there is
no single or central point of failure,
because the processing is distributed among many
elements, it is only reliable in a collective
sense. The entire system will not fail if
a component in the system fails. This means the
individual agent does not matter. A single agent is
certainly not a reliable service provider (since he
is an autonomous element, anyway, which has the right
to determine the own reaction and responses), and not suitable
for computational purposes.

=== Problems ===

Among the many important problems and challenges are
for instance the following items:

* Micro-Macro Link from local to global behavior
* to solve the central problems of [[AOSE]] and [[ESOA]]
* distributed problem solving, task allocation and distribution of tasks
* architectures for intelligent agents, modeling of smart behavior
* optimal forms of organization and cooperation
* coordination and collaboration

Katia P. Sycara lists six challenges of multiagent systems in
her AI Magazine article about "Multiagent systems" (1998):

# DISTRIBUTED COMPUTATION: how do we formulate, describe, decompose, and allocate problems and synthesize results among a group of intelligent agents?
# COMMUNICATION & COORDINATION: how do we enable agents to communicate and interact? What communication languages and protocols do we use? How can heterogeneous agents interoperate? What and when can they communicate? How can we find useful agents in an open environment?
# COHERENCE & COOPERATION: how do we ensure that agents act coherently in making decisions or taking action, accommodating the nonlocal effects of local decisions and avoiding harmful interactions? How do we ensure the MAS does not become resource bounded? How do we avoid unstable system behavior?
# REPRESENTATION & REASONING: how do we enable individual agents to represent and reason about the actions, plans, and knowledge of other agents to coordinate with them; how do we reason about the state of their coordinated process (for example, initiation and completion)?
# CONFLICT RESOLUTION: how do we recognize and reconcile disparate viewpoints and conflicting intentions among a collection of agents trying to coordinate their actions?
# ENGINEERING & DESIGN: how do we engineer and constrain practical DAI systems? How do we design technology platforms and development methodologies for MASs?

== References and Articles ==

General:
* [http://citeseer.ist.psu.edu/97055.html Intelligent Agents: Theory and Practice] Michael Wooldridge, Nicholas R. Jennings (1995)
* [http://citeseer.ist.psu.edu/tambe97towards.html Towards Flexible Teamwork] Milind Tambe (1997)
* [http://citeseer.ist.psu.edu/jennings98roadmap.html A Roadmap of Agent Research and Development] Nicholas R. Jennings, Katia Sycara, Michael Wooldridge (1998)
* [http://citeseer.ist.psu.edu/42923.html Modeling Adaptive Autonomous Agents], Pattie Maes (1994)

BDI Architecture:
* [http://citeseer.ist.psu.edu/rao91modeling.html Modeling Rational Agents within a BDI-Architecture] Anand S. Rao, Michael P. Georgeff (1991)
* [http://citeseer.ist.psu.edu/rao95bdi.html BDI Agents: From Theory to Practice] Anand S. Rao, Michael P. Georgeff (1995)

Languages:
* [http://citeseer.ist.psu.edu/labrou99agent.html Agent Communication Languages: The current landscape], Yannis Labrou, Tim Finin, and Yun Peng, IEEE Intelligent Systems, Vol. 14 No. 2 (1999) 45-52

Challenges:
* [http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~softagents/papers/multiagentsystems.PDF Multiagent Systems], Katia P. Sycara, AI Magazine Vol. 19 No. 2 (1998) 79-92
* [http://citeseer.ist.psu.edu/zambonelli04challenges.html Challenges and Research Directions in Agent-Oriented Software Engineering], Franco Zambonelli (2004)

more MAS articles about
[http://citeseer.ist.psu.edu/Agents/ Agents],
[http://citeseer.ist.psu.edu/Agents/Architecture/ Architecture] and
[http://citeseer.ist.psu.edu/Agents/Multi-agentSystems/ Multi-agentSystems]
can be found at CiteSeer.

The Papers from the
[http://portal.acm.org/toc.cfm?id=860575&coll=GUIDE&dl=GUIDE&type=proceeding&idx=SERIES134&part=Proceedings&WantType=Proceedings&title=International%20Conference%20on%20Autonomous%20Agents&CFID=55833435&CFTOKEN=22356805 AAMAS 2003], [http://www.aamas2004.org/ AAMAS 2004] and the
[http://portal.acm.org/toc.cfm?id=1082473&type=proceeding&coll=GUIDE&dl=GUIDE&CFID=55833435&CFTOKEN=22356805#1082499 AAMAS 2005] conferences. Other years and versions of the International Conference on Autonomous Agents can be found
[http://portal.acm.org/toc.cfm?id=SERIES134&coll=GUIDE&dl=GUIDE&type=series&idx=1018411&part=Proceedings&WantType=Proceedings&title=International%20Conference%20on%20Autonomous%20Agents&CFID=55833435&CFTOKEN=22356805 here]

== Books ==

* Jacques Ferber, ''Multi-Agent Systems: An Introduction to Distributed Artificial Intelligence'', Addison-Wesley, 1999, ISBN 0201360489
* Gerhard Weiss (Editor), ''Multiagent Systems: A Modern Approach to Distributed Artificial Intelligence'', The MIT Press, 2000, ISBN 0262731312
* Michael Wooldridge, ''Introduction to MultiAgent Systems'', John Wiley & Sons, 2002, ISBN 047149691X

* Danny Weyns et al., ''Environments for Multi-Agent Systems'', Proceedings of First International Workshop, E4MAS 2004, Springer LNAI 3374 (2005) ISBN 3540245758

[[Category:Systems]]

== Links ==

Portals:

* [http://www.multiagent.com/ Multiagent Systems] site from José M. Vidal
* [http://www.aaai.org/AITopics/html/multi.html AAAI site] about Multi-Agent Systems

== See also ==

* [[Agent]], [[AOSE]],[[ESOA]]

Multi-Agent System - Revision history

Jfromm: /* Books */

Jfromm: /* Books */

Jfromm: New page: A '''Multi-Agent System''' (MAS) is a system composed of several autonomous agents which are able to interact and communicate with each other. In software, MAS are realised as so...