Proceedings of the fifth international joint conference on Autonomous agents and multiagent systems, 2006
The ability to create reliable, scalable virtual organisations (VOs) on demand in a dynamic, open... more The ability to create reliable, scalable virtual organisations (VOs) on demand in a dynamic, open and competitive environment is one of the challenges that underlie Grid computing. In response, in the CONOISE-G project, we are developing an infrastructure to support robust and resilient virtual organisation formation and operation. Specifically, CONOISE-G provides mechanisms to assure effective operation of agent-based VOs in the face of disruptive and potentially malicious entities in dynamic, open and competitive environments. In this paper, we describe the CONOISE-G system, outline its use in VO formation and perturbation, and review current work on dealing with unreliable information sources.
During the design of an agent system many decisions will be taken that determine the structure of... more During the design of an agent system many decisions will be taken that determine the structure of the system, for reasons that are clear to the designer and customers at the time. However, when later teams approach the system it may not be obvious why particular decisions have been taken. This problem is particularly acute in the case of designers attempting to integrate services from many different service providers. In this paper a mechanism for recording these decisions is described. We illustrate how design decisions can be captured and how these abstractions can then be used in as the basis of reuse in an extension of the Zeus agent toolkit.
Proceedings of the 6th international joint conference on Autonomous agents and multiagent systems, 2007
This paper describes an agent system we have built to handle order entry and management issue in ... more This paper describes an agent system we have built to handle order entry and management issue in business computing and specialized in the telecommunication domain. Our system is implemented using only industry approved standards and it can both manage complex workflows as well as handle user context dependant service selection. Furthermore, it has the abstract goal representation mechanism, which in turn can detect and reflect to changes in its working environment, leading to more accurate capturing of user's requirements. We also detail a number of prototype applications that has been built using our technology and highlight how our approach addresses the business issues around each of these applications.
This paper argues that the combination of software agents with existing workflow management syste... more This paper argues that the combination of software agents with existing workflow management systems can facilitate the degree of co-ordination and collaboration required to make virtual enterprises a reality. It describes the use of software agents in the: setting-up of decentralised workflows; reactive and proactive redistribution of work during process failures; promotion of interoperability between workflow management systems; visualisation and monitoring of decentralised business processes.
Proceedings of the fourth international joint conference on Autonomous agents and multiagent systems - AAMAS '05, 2005
The ability to create reliable and scalable virtual organisations (VOs) on demand in a dynamic, o... more The ability to create reliable and scalable virtual organisations (VOs) on demand in a dynamic, open and competitive environment is one of the major challenges that underlie Grid computing. In response, in the CONOISE-G project, we are developing an infrastructure to support robust and resilient virtual organisation formation and operation. Specifically, CONOISE-G provides mechanisms to assure effective operation of agent-based VOs in the face of disruptive and potentially malicious entities in dynamic, open and competitive environments. In this paper, we describe the CONOISE-G system, outline its use in the context of VO formation and perturbation, and review current efforts to progress the work to deal with unreliable information sources. 1
During the design of an agent system many decisions will be taken that determine the structure of... more During the design of an agent system many decisions will be taken that determine the structure of the system for reasons that are clear to the designer and customers at the time. However, when later teams approach the system it may not be obvious why particular decisions have been taken. This problem is particularly acute in the case of designers attempting to integrate complex "intelligent" services from many different service providers. In this paper a mechanism for recording these decisions is described and grouping functionality into Roles which can then be combined using the recorded design knowledge is subsequent development episodes. We illustrate how design decisions can be captured, discuss the semantics of the constructs we introduce and how these abstractions can then be used as the basis of reuse in an extension of the Zeus agent toolkit.
Proceedings of the 2002 ACM symposium on Applied computing - SAC '02, 2002
Multi-agent systems can be viewed as organisations of individual agents. Designing an agent organ... more Multi-agent systems can be viewed as organisations of individual agents. Designing an agent organisation is a complex process involving defining the structural relationships among agents, the lines of inter-agent communication, and the agent functionality. Existing approaches to agent organisation design are difficult to apply in practice since they require designers to make decisions while working at a low level of abstraction. This paper contributes towards designing agent organisations in a practical and effective manner by proposing to semi-automate the organisational design process. The proposed semi-automatic approach enables agent system designers to reason at a high abstraction level and conveniently re-use previous design decisions. This semi-automatic approach to agent organisation design uses role modelling and a role algebra which captures a number of basic relations among roles. The role algebra's semantics are formally defined using a two-sorted algebra. The applicability of the semi-automatic agent organisation design approach is demonstrated by an example drawn from a case study involving telephone repair service teams.
Designing realistic multi-agent systems is a complex process, which involves specifying not only ... more Designing realistic multi-agent systems is a complex process, which involves specifying not only the functionality of individual agents, but also the authority relationships and lines of communication existing among them. In other words, designing a multi-agent system refers to designing an agent organisation. Existing methodologies follow a wide variety of approaches to designing agent organisations, but they do not provide adequate support for the decisions involved in moving from analysis to design. Instead, they require designers to make ad hoc design decisions while working at a low level of abstraction.We have developed RAMASD (Role Algebraic Multi-Agent System Design), a method for semi-automatic design of agent organisations based on the concept of role models as first-class design constructs. Role models represent agent behaviour, and the design of the agent system is done by systematically allocating roles to agents. The core of this method is a formal model of basic relat...
In our view, customers in the future are likely to obtain their services from coalitions of servi... more In our view, customers in the future are likely to obtain their services from coalitions of service providers. These coalitions can be described as virtual organisations (VOs); they are group of service providers that form relationships to service customers' demands on an ad-hoc basis. For a VO to be effective, it must be reliable and scalable, and realistically, it must be created and maintained in a dynamic, open and competitive environment. The CONOISE-G project has focused on resolving the technology challenges that emerged from these requirements. Specifically, CONOISE-G provides mechanisms to assure effective operation of VOs in the face of failure, unexpected events and changing requirements in dynamic, open and competitive environment. In this paper, we describe the CONOISE-G system; motivated by a scenario based on mobile service provision; outline its use in the context of VO formation and perturbation and review current efforts to progress the work to deal with unreliable information sources. 1
A key challenge in Grid Computing is the ability to create reliable and scalable virtual organisa... more A key challenge in Grid Computing is the ability to create reliable and scalable virtual organisations (VOs) which operate in an open, dynamic and competitive environment. In response, in the CONOISE-G project, we are developing an infrastructure to support robust and resilient virtual organisation formation and operation. Specifically, CONOISE-G provides mechanisms to assure effective operation of agent-based VOs in the face of disruptive and potentially malicious entities in dynamic, open and competitive environments. In this paper ...
International Journal of Electronic Commerce, 2002
Agent-based systems are increasingly used to support business-to-business (B2B) electronic commer... more Agent-based systems are increasingly used to support business-to-business (B2B) electronic commerce and other Internet-based transactions. The design complexit y resulting from the multiple interconnected systems in these domains has to be managed in order to reduce costs and time to market. This paper introduces the Role-Algebraic Multi-Agent System Design (RAMASD) approach. RAMASD utilizes role models as reusable system-building blocks and a role algebra to capture the basic relations of roles. A t wo-sorted algebra is used to define the role algebra's semantics. RAMASD reduces the complexity of designing agent-based B2B e-commerce systems by enabling designers to work at a high level of abstraction and by automatically allocating roles to agents according to applicable role models and design constraints. A case study concerning a B2B electronic market for the automotive industry demonstrates the applicability of RAMASD. The advantages and disadvantages of the proposed approach are discussed, and comparisons with relevant work are made.
… of the 2003 ACM SIGPLAN workshop …, Aug 28, 2003
Refactorings are source-to-source program transformations which change program structure and orga... more Refactorings are source-to-source program transformations which change program structure and organisation, but not program functionality. Documented in catalogues and supported by tools, refactoring provides the means to adapt and improve the design of existing code, and has thus enabled the trend towards modern agile software development processes. Refactoring has taken a prominent place in software development and maintenance, but most of this recent success has taken place in the OO and XP ...
… of the 2003 ACM SIGPLAN workshop …, Aug 28, 2003
Refactorings are source-to-source program transformations which change program structure and orga... more Refactorings are source-to-source program transformations which change program structure and organisation, but not program functionality. Documented in catalogues and supported by tools, refactoring provides the means to adapt and improve the design of existing code, and has thus enabled the trend towards modern agile software development processes. Refactoring has taken a prominent place in software development and maintenance, but most of this recent success has taken place in the OO and XP ...
Recently many vendors and groups have advocated using BPEL and WS-BPEL as a workflow language to ... more Recently many vendors and groups have advocated using BPEL and WS-BPEL as a workflow language to encapsulate business logic. While encapsulating workflow and process logic in one place is a sensible architectural decision, the implementation of complex workflows ...
Proceedings of the fifth international joint conference on Autonomous agents and multiagent systems, 2006
The ability to create reliable, scalable virtual organisations (VOs) on demand in a dynamic, open... more The ability to create reliable, scalable virtual organisations (VOs) on demand in a dynamic, open and competitive environment is one of the challenges that underlie Grid computing. In response, in the CONOISE-G project, we are developing an infrastructure to support robust and resilient virtual organisation formation and operation. Specifically, CONOISE-G provides mechanisms to assure effective operation of agent-based VOs in the face of disruptive and potentially malicious entities in dynamic, open and competitive environments. In this paper, we describe the CONOISE-G system, outline its use in VO formation and perturbation, and review current work on dealing with unreliable information sources.
During the design of an agent system many decisions will be taken that determine the structure of... more During the design of an agent system many decisions will be taken that determine the structure of the system, for reasons that are clear to the designer and customers at the time. However, when later teams approach the system it may not be obvious why particular decisions have been taken. This problem is particularly acute in the case of designers attempting to integrate services from many different service providers. In this paper a mechanism for recording these decisions is described. We illustrate how design decisions can be captured and how these abstractions can then be used in as the basis of reuse in an extension of the Zeus agent toolkit.
Proceedings of the 6th international joint conference on Autonomous agents and multiagent systems, 2007
This paper describes an agent system we have built to handle order entry and management issue in ... more This paper describes an agent system we have built to handle order entry and management issue in business computing and specialized in the telecommunication domain. Our system is implemented using only industry approved standards and it can both manage complex workflows as well as handle user context dependant service selection. Furthermore, it has the abstract goal representation mechanism, which in turn can detect and reflect to changes in its working environment, leading to more accurate capturing of user's requirements. We also detail a number of prototype applications that has been built using our technology and highlight how our approach addresses the business issues around each of these applications.
This paper argues that the combination of software agents with existing workflow management syste... more This paper argues that the combination of software agents with existing workflow management systems can facilitate the degree of co-ordination and collaboration required to make virtual enterprises a reality. It describes the use of software agents in the: setting-up of decentralised workflows; reactive and proactive redistribution of work during process failures; promotion of interoperability between workflow management systems; visualisation and monitoring of decentralised business processes.
Proceedings of the fourth international joint conference on Autonomous agents and multiagent systems - AAMAS '05, 2005
The ability to create reliable and scalable virtual organisations (VOs) on demand in a dynamic, o... more The ability to create reliable and scalable virtual organisations (VOs) on demand in a dynamic, open and competitive environment is one of the major challenges that underlie Grid computing. In response, in the CONOISE-G project, we are developing an infrastructure to support robust and resilient virtual organisation formation and operation. Specifically, CONOISE-G provides mechanisms to assure effective operation of agent-based VOs in the face of disruptive and potentially malicious entities in dynamic, open and competitive environments. In this paper, we describe the CONOISE-G system, outline its use in the context of VO formation and perturbation, and review current efforts to progress the work to deal with unreliable information sources. 1
During the design of an agent system many decisions will be taken that determine the structure of... more During the design of an agent system many decisions will be taken that determine the structure of the system for reasons that are clear to the designer and customers at the time. However, when later teams approach the system it may not be obvious why particular decisions have been taken. This problem is particularly acute in the case of designers attempting to integrate complex "intelligent" services from many different service providers. In this paper a mechanism for recording these decisions is described and grouping functionality into Roles which can then be combined using the recorded design knowledge is subsequent development episodes. We illustrate how design decisions can be captured, discuss the semantics of the constructs we introduce and how these abstractions can then be used as the basis of reuse in an extension of the Zeus agent toolkit.
Proceedings of the 2002 ACM symposium on Applied computing - SAC '02, 2002
Multi-agent systems can be viewed as organisations of individual agents. Designing an agent organ... more Multi-agent systems can be viewed as organisations of individual agents. Designing an agent organisation is a complex process involving defining the structural relationships among agents, the lines of inter-agent communication, and the agent functionality. Existing approaches to agent organisation design are difficult to apply in practice since they require designers to make decisions while working at a low level of abstraction. This paper contributes towards designing agent organisations in a practical and effective manner by proposing to semi-automate the organisational design process. The proposed semi-automatic approach enables agent system designers to reason at a high abstraction level and conveniently re-use previous design decisions. This semi-automatic approach to agent organisation design uses role modelling and a role algebra which captures a number of basic relations among roles. The role algebra's semantics are formally defined using a two-sorted algebra. The applicability of the semi-automatic agent organisation design approach is demonstrated by an example drawn from a case study involving telephone repair service teams.
Designing realistic multi-agent systems is a complex process, which involves specifying not only ... more Designing realistic multi-agent systems is a complex process, which involves specifying not only the functionality of individual agents, but also the authority relationships and lines of communication existing among them. In other words, designing a multi-agent system refers to designing an agent organisation. Existing methodologies follow a wide variety of approaches to designing agent organisations, but they do not provide adequate support for the decisions involved in moving from analysis to design. Instead, they require designers to make ad hoc design decisions while working at a low level of abstraction.We have developed RAMASD (Role Algebraic Multi-Agent System Design), a method for semi-automatic design of agent organisations based on the concept of role models as first-class design constructs. Role models represent agent behaviour, and the design of the agent system is done by systematically allocating roles to agents. The core of this method is a formal model of basic relat...
In our view, customers in the future are likely to obtain their services from coalitions of servi... more In our view, customers in the future are likely to obtain their services from coalitions of service providers. These coalitions can be described as virtual organisations (VOs); they are group of service providers that form relationships to service customers' demands on an ad-hoc basis. For a VO to be effective, it must be reliable and scalable, and realistically, it must be created and maintained in a dynamic, open and competitive environment. The CONOISE-G project has focused on resolving the technology challenges that emerged from these requirements. Specifically, CONOISE-G provides mechanisms to assure effective operation of VOs in the face of failure, unexpected events and changing requirements in dynamic, open and competitive environment. In this paper, we describe the CONOISE-G system; motivated by a scenario based on mobile service provision; outline its use in the context of VO formation and perturbation and review current efforts to progress the work to deal with unreliable information sources. 1
A key challenge in Grid Computing is the ability to create reliable and scalable virtual organisa... more A key challenge in Grid Computing is the ability to create reliable and scalable virtual organisations (VOs) which operate in an open, dynamic and competitive environment. In response, in the CONOISE-G project, we are developing an infrastructure to support robust and resilient virtual organisation formation and operation. Specifically, CONOISE-G provides mechanisms to assure effective operation of agent-based VOs in the face of disruptive and potentially malicious entities in dynamic, open and competitive environments. In this paper ...
International Journal of Electronic Commerce, 2002
Agent-based systems are increasingly used to support business-to-business (B2B) electronic commer... more Agent-based systems are increasingly used to support business-to-business (B2B) electronic commerce and other Internet-based transactions. The design complexit y resulting from the multiple interconnected systems in these domains has to be managed in order to reduce costs and time to market. This paper introduces the Role-Algebraic Multi-Agent System Design (RAMASD) approach. RAMASD utilizes role models as reusable system-building blocks and a role algebra to capture the basic relations of roles. A t wo-sorted algebra is used to define the role algebra's semantics. RAMASD reduces the complexity of designing agent-based B2B e-commerce systems by enabling designers to work at a high level of abstraction and by automatically allocating roles to agents according to applicable role models and design constraints. A case study concerning a B2B electronic market for the automotive industry demonstrates the applicability of RAMASD. The advantages and disadvantages of the proposed approach are discussed, and comparisons with relevant work are made.
… of the 2003 ACM SIGPLAN workshop …, Aug 28, 2003
Refactorings are source-to-source program transformations which change program structure and orga... more Refactorings are source-to-source program transformations which change program structure and organisation, but not program functionality. Documented in catalogues and supported by tools, refactoring provides the means to adapt and improve the design of existing code, and has thus enabled the trend towards modern agile software development processes. Refactoring has taken a prominent place in software development and maintenance, but most of this recent success has taken place in the OO and XP ...
… of the 2003 ACM SIGPLAN workshop …, Aug 28, 2003
Refactorings are source-to-source program transformations which change program structure and orga... more Refactorings are source-to-source program transformations which change program structure and organisation, but not program functionality. Documented in catalogues and supported by tools, refactoring provides the means to adapt and improve the design of existing code, and has thus enabled the trend towards modern agile software development processes. Refactoring has taken a prominent place in software development and maintenance, but most of this recent success has taken place in the OO and XP ...
Recently many vendors and groups have advocated using BPEL and WS-BPEL as a workflow language to ... more Recently many vendors and groups have advocated using BPEL and WS-BPEL as a workflow language to encapsulate business logic. While encapsulating workflow and process logic in one place is a sensible architectural decision, the implementation of complex workflows ...
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