Authors:
Haiping Xu
and
Xiaoqin Zhang
Affiliation:
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, United States
Keyword(s):
Role-based modeling, Open multi-agent software systems, Object-Z formalism, A-R mapping.
Related
Ontology
Subjects/Areas/Topics:
Agent-Oriented Programming
;
Enterprise Information Systems
;
Information Engineering Methodologies
;
Information Systems Analysis and Specification
;
Modeling Formalisms, Languages and Notations
;
Modeling of Distributed Systems
;
Software Agents and Internet Computing
Abstract:
Multi-agent systems (MAS) are rapidly emerging as a powerful paradigm for modeling and developing distributed information systems. In an open multi-agent system, agents can not only join or leave an agent society at will, but also take or release roles dynamically. Most of existing work on MAS uses role modeling for system analysis; however, role models are only used at conceptual level with no realizations in the implemented system. In this paper, we propose a methodology for role-based modeling of open multi-agent software systems. We specify role organization and role space as containers of conceptual roles and role instances, respectively. Agents in an agent society can take or release roles from a role space dynamically. The relationships between agents are deduced through a mechanism called A-R mapping. As a potential solution for automated MAS development, we summarize the procedures to generate a role-based design of open multi-agent software systems.