Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

E-Service/Process Composition Through Multi-agent Constraint Management

  • Conference paper
Business Process Management (BPM 2006)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 4102))

Included in the following conference series:

Abstract

E-service/process composition requires allocating suitable resources to a set of services that constitute a composite service/process. The problem is complicated due to undetermined constraints of each component service and unpredictable solutions contributed by service providers. It needs the ability to rapidly identify the suitable solutions as well as effectively coordinate them under various constraints. In this paper, an agent-mediated coordination framework for e-service/process composition is proposed. Each agent works as a broker for each service type, posting service constraints, searching suitable solutions and refining the constraints for achieving coherence among the decisions of each service. Based on the framework, a prototype of multi-agent supported e-supply chain composition is implemented. The experimental results indicate the significant effectiveness of the approach.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Aalst, W.M.P., Dumas, M., Hofstede, A.H.M.: Web Service Composition Languages: Old Wine in New Bottles? In: 29th EUROMICRO Conference, pp. 298–305 (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Ardagna, D., Pernici, B.: Global and Local QoS Guarantee in Web Service Selection. In: Bussler, C.J., Haller, A. (eds.) BPM 2005. LNCS, vol. 3812, pp. 32–46. Springer, Heidelberg (2006)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  3. Canfora, G., Penta, M., Esposito, R., Villani, M.L.: QoS-Aware Replanning of Composite Web Services. In: 2005 IEEE International Conference on Web Services (ICWS 2005) (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  4. Casati, F., Shan, M.: Dynamic and adaptive composition of e-services. Information Systems 26(3), 143–163 (2001)

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  5. Cheung, W.K., Liu, J.: On Knowledge Grid and Grid Intelligence – A Survey. Computational Intelligence - An International Journal 21(2), 111–129 (2005)

    MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  6. Claro, D.B., Albers, P., Hao, J.K.: Selecting web services for optimal composition. In: ICWS 2005 Second International Workshop on Semantic and Dynamic Web Processes (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  7. Eder, J., Panagos, E., Rabinovich, M.: Time Constraints in Workflow Systems. In: Jarke, M., Oberweis, A. (eds.) CAiSE 1999. LNCS, vol. 1626, pp. 286–300. Springer, Heidelberg (1999)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  8. Fox, M.S., Barbuceanu, M., Teigen, R.: Agent-Oriented Supply-Chain Management. International Journal of Flexible Manufacturing Systems 12(2/3), 165–188 (2000)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Kumar, A., Zhao, J.L.: Workflow support for electronic commerce applications. Decision Support Systems 32(3), 265–278 (2002)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Li, H., Yang, Y., Chen, T.Y.: Resource constraints analysis of workflow specifications. Journal of Systems and Software 73, 271–285 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Liu, J., Jing, H., Tang, Y.Y.: Multi-agent oriented constraint satisfaction. Artificial Intelligence 136(1), 101–144 (2002)

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  12. Liu, J., Jin, X.L., Tsui, K.C.: Autonomy Oriented Computing (AOC): Formulating computational systems with autonomous components. IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, Part A: Systems and Humans 35(6), 879–902 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Marjanovic, O., Orlowska, M.E.: On modeling and verification of temporal constraints in production workflows. Knowledge Information Systems 1(2), 157–192 (1999)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Menasce, D.A.: Composing Web Services: A QoS View. IEEE Internet Computing 8(6), 88–90 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Milanovic, N., Malek, M.: Current Solutions for Web Service Composition. IEEE Internet Computing 8(6), 51–59 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Muscettola, N.: Integrating Planning and Scheduling. In: Zweben, M., Fox, M.S. (eds.) Intelligent Scheduling, pp. 169–212. Morgan Kaufmann, San Francisco (1994)

    Google Scholar 

  17. Rao, J., Su, X.: A Survey of Automated Web Service Composition Methods. In: Cardoso, J., Sheth, A.P. (eds.) SWSWPC 2004. LNCS, vol. 3387, pp. 43–54. Springer, Heidelberg (2005)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  18. Sadeh, N.M., Arunachalam, R., Eriksson, J., Finne, N., Janson, S.: TAC-03 - A Supply-Chain Trading Competition. AI Magazine 24(1), 92–94 (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  19. Sauer, J., Appelrath, H.: Scheduling the Supply Chain by Teams of Agents. In: 38th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS) (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  20. Senkul, S., Toroslu, I.H.: An architecture for workflow scheduling under resource allocation constraints. Information Systems 30(5), 399–422 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Srivastava, B., Koehler, J.: Web Service Composition - Current Solutions and Open Problems. In: ICAPS 2003 Workshop on Planning for Web Services (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  22. Subramani, M.: How Do Suppliers Benefit from Information Technology Use in Supply Chain Relationships? MIS Quarterly 28(1), 45–73 (2004)

    MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  23. Wang, M., Wang, H.: From Process Logic to Business Logic – A Cognitive Approach to Business Process Management. Information & Management 43(2), 179–193 (2006)

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  24. Wang, M., Cheung, W.K., Liu, J., Luo, Z.: Agent-based Web Service Composition for Supply Chain Management. In: IEEE Joint Conference on E-Commerce Technology (CEC 2006) and Enterprise Computing, E-Commerce and E-Services (EEE 2006) (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  25. Weiß, G.: Cognition, Sociability, and Constraints. In: Hannebauer, M., Wendler, J., Pagello, E. (eds.) ECAI-WS 2000. LNCS, vol. 2103, pp. 217–236. Springer, Heidelberg (2001)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  26. Weske, M., Aalst, W.M.P., Verbeek, H.M.W.: Advances in Business Process Management. Special Issue of Data and Knowledge Engineering 50(1), 1–8 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Yokoo, M.: Distributed Constraint Satisfaction: Foundation of Cooperation in Multi-agent Systems. Springer, Berlin (2001)

    Google Scholar 

  28. Zeng, L., Benatallah, B., Ngu, A.H.H., Dumas, M., Kalagnanam, J., Chang, H.: QoS-Aware Middleware for Web Services Composition. IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering 30(5), 311–327 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Zhao, J., Stohr, E.: Temporal workflow management in a claim handling system. In: Proceedings of Work Activities Coordination and Collaboration (WACC 1999), pp. 187–195 (1999)

    Google Scholar 

  30. Zhao, J.L., Cheng, H.K.: Web services and process management: a union of convenience or a new area of research? Decision Support Systems 40(1), 1–8 (2005)

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  31. Zhuge, H., Cheung, T., Pung, H.: A timed workflow process model. Journal of Systems and Software 55(3), 231–243 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Information and Technology Studies, The University of Hong Kong, China

    Minhong Wang

  2. Department of Computer Science, Hong Kong Baptist University, China

    Minhong Wang, William K. Cheung, Jiming Liu & Xiaofeng Xie

  3. School of Computer Science, University of Windsor, Canada

    Jiming Liu

  4. E-Business Technology Institute, The University of Hong Kong, China

    Zongwei Luo

Authors
  1. Minhong Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. William K. Cheung
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jiming Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Xiaofeng Xie
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Zongwei Luo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Distributed Systems Group, Information Systems Institute, Vienna University of Technology, Austria

    Schahram Dustdar

  2. Department of Computer Science, University of Leicester, University Road, LE1 7RH, Leicester, UK

    José Luiz Fiadeiro

  3. Kno.e.sis Center, Dept. of Computer Science & Engineering, Wright State University, 3640 Colonel Glenn Hwy, Dayton, Ohio

    Amit P. Sheth

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2006 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this paper

Cite this paper

Wang, M., Cheung, W.K., Liu, J., Xie, X., Luo, Z. (2006). E-Service/Process Composition Through Multi-agent Constraint Management. In: Dustdar, S., Fiadeiro, J.L., Sheth, A.P. (eds) Business Process Management. BPM 2006. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 4102. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/11841760_19

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/11841760_19

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-38901-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-38903-3

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation