Understanding Agent Systems

Since the first edition was published two years ago, much has been done on extend­ ing the work done on SMART to address new and important areas [3-5,54,79,80, 108-110,116,118-120,122]. In this second edition, we have revised, updated and corrected the existing text and added three new chapters. These chapters provide a broader coverage of the fie1d of agents, and show in more detail how the specific framework described can be used to examine other areas. In Chapter 6, we use the concepts of discovery to apply the framework to autonomous interaction in multi­ agent systems; in Chapter 10 we use it for considering normative agents and sys­ tems; and in Chapter 11 we describe work on an implementation and development environment. As a course text, the book can be considered in different parts, as follows. - Chapter I and Chapter 2 offer a basic introduction to agents and their core com­ ponents. - Chapter 3 and Chapter 4 cover relationships between agents and basic notions of cooperation for multi-agent systems. - Chapter 5 and Chapter 6 introduce sociological agents, which are needed for rea­ soning and planning, and their use in reasoning about communication and inter­ action. - Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9 and Chapter 10 each cover different application areas relating to different aspects, inc1uding coordination (through the contract net), agent architecture (through AgentSpeak(L), social dependence networks, and normative systems.

1. The Agent Landscape.- 2. The SMART Agent Framework.- 3. Agent Relationships.- A. The Z Specification Language.- A.1 Introduction to Z.- A.2 Generic Z Definitions.- A.2.1 Sets.- A.2.2 Relations.- A.2.3 Functions.- A.2.4 Sequences.- References.

 

Mark d’Inverno has been working in the field of agent-based systems for well over 10 years and is currently Professor of Computer Science in the Cavendish School of Computer Science at the University of Westminster. He gained a BA in Mathematics in 1986 and an MSc in Computation in 1988 both from Oxford University, and in 1998 was awarded a PhD from University College London. He has published numerous papers in the area and is an expert in formal sepcification of agent systems. Prof d’Inverno is a founder of the UKMAS workshops, has chaired two UKMAS wortkshops and is a member of the UKMAS Steering Committee. He sits on several conference and workshop programme committees.

Michael Luck is a Senior Lecturer in the Intelligence, Agents and Multimedia Group in the School of Electronics and Computer Science at the University of Southampton, UK. He has worked in the field of agent technology and multi-agent systems for over ten years, having previously led the Agent-Based Systems Group at the University of Warwick for seven years, and having gained his PhD from University College London in 1993 for work on agent-based discovery. Dr Luck is a co-founder of the UK Special Interest Group on Multi-Agent Systems, and currently Chair of the UKMAS Steering Committee. He is a member of the Advisory Boards of FIPA (the agent standards body), MAAMAW (the European agent conference) and CEEMAS (the Central and Eastern European agent conference). He has served on numerous programme committees for agent conferences and workshops, and has organised and chaired several international conferences in the area of agents, including those for industry. Dr Luck has contributed to policy making forums for national and European agencies, has reviewed proposals for many national and international funding agencies, and has published extensively in this area (with over 75 papers and 5 books). Since 2000, he has been Director of AgentLink, the European Network ofExcellence for Agent-Based Computing.