Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Foundations and Applications of Multi-Agent Systems pp 152–168Cite as

Semantics of Agent Communication: An Introduction

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNAI,volume 2403))

Abstract

Communication has been one of the salient issues in the research on concurrent and distributed systems. This holds no less for the research on multi-agent systems. Over the last few years the study of agent communication, and in particular the semantics of agent communication, has attracted increased interest. The present paper provides an introduction to this area. Since agent communication builds upon concepts and techniques from concurrency theory, we start by giving a short historical overview that covers shared-variable concurrency, message-passing, rendezvous, concurrent constraint programming and agent communication. Standard approaches of agent communication identify three different layers: a content layer, message layer and communication layer. To this model we add an extra level, namely the layer of the multi-agent system. Subsequently, we discern three approaches in developing the semantics of programming languages: the axiomatic, operational and denotational approach. Additionally, we discuss semantic aspects of agent communication, including communication histories, compositionality, observable behaviour, failure sets and full abstractness. We illustrate these issues by means of the framework ACPL (Agent Communication Programming Language). Finally, we briefly consider the specification and verification of agent communication.

This is a preview of subscription content, 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   39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   54.99
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

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. G. Agha. Concurrent object-oriented programming. Communications of the ACM, 33(9):125–141, 1990.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. G. Agha, P. Wegner, and Yonezawa. Research Directions in Concurrent Object-Oriented Programming. The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1993.

    Google Scholar 

  3. P.H.M. America. Issues in the design of a parallel object-oriented language. Formal Aspects of Computing, 1:366–411, 1989.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. G.R. Andrews. Concurrent Programming, Principles and Practice. The Benjamin Cummings Publishing Company, Inc., Redwood City, California, 1991.

    Google Scholar 

  5. J.L. Austin. How to do Things with Words. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1962.

    Google Scholar 

  6. J.A. Bergstra, J.W. Klop, and E.-R. Olderog. Readies and failures in the algebra of communicating processes. SIAM Journal on Computing, 17:1134–1177, 1988.

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  7. A. D. Birrell and B. J. Nelson. Implementing remote procedure calls. ACM Transactions on Computer Systems, 2:39–59, 1984.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. A.H Bond and L. Gasser. Readings in Distributed Artificial Intelligence. Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, San Mateo, CA, 1988.

    Google Scholar 

  9. F. Brazier, B. Dunin-Keplicz, N. Jennings, and J. Treur. Formal specification of multi-agent systems: a real-world case. In Proceedings of International Conference on Multi-Agent Systems (ICMAS’95), pages 25–32. MIT Press, 1995.

    Google Scholar 

  10. K. Clark and S. Gregory. Parlog: parallel programming in logic. ACM Transactions on Programming Languages and Systems, 8(1): 1–49, 1986.

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  11. E.W. Dijkstra. Solution of a problem in concurrent programming control. Communications of the ACM, 8(9):569, 1965.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. E.W. Dijkstra. Cooperating sequential processes. In F. Genuys, editor, Programming Languages, pages 43–112. Academic Press, New York, 1968.

    Google Scholar 

  13. R.M. van Eijk. Programming Languages for Agent Communication. PhD thesis, Utrecht University, Mathematics and Computer Science, 2000.

    Google Scholar 

  14. R.M. van Eijk, F.S. de Boer, W. van der Hoek, and J.-J.Ch. Meyer. Information-passing and belief revision in multi-agent systems. In J. P. M. Müller, M. P. Singh, and A. S. Rao, editors, Intelligent Agents V, Proceedings of 5th International Workshop on Agent Theories, Architectures, and Languages (ATAL’98), volume 1555 of Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence, pages 29–45. Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg, 1999.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  15. R.M. van Eijk, F.S. de Boer, W. van der Hoek, and J.-J.Ch. Meyer. On dynamically generated ontology translators in agent communication. International Journal of Intelligent Systems, 16(5):587–607, 2001.

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  16. R.M. van Eijk, F.S. de Boer, W. van der Hoek, and J.-J.Ch. Meyer. Fully-abstract model for the exchange of information in multi-agent systems. Theoretical Computer Science. To appear, 2002.

    Google Scholar 

  17. R.M. van Eijk, F.S. de Boer, W. van der Hoek, and J.-J.Ch. Meyer. A verification framework for agent communication. Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems. To appear, 2002.

    Google Scholar 

  18. T. Finin, D. McKay, R. Fritzson, and R. McEntire. KQML: An Information and Knowledge Exchange Protocol. In Kazuhiro Fuchi and Toshio Yokoi, editors, Knowledge Building and Knowledge Sharing. Ohmsha and IOS Press, 1994.

    Google Scholar 

  19. Foundation For Intelligent Physical Agents FIPA. Specification part 2-agent communication language. Version dated 10th October 1997, 1997.

    Google Scholar 

  20. M. Fisher. A survey of concurrent MetateM-the language and its applications. In Proceedings of First International Conference on Temporal Logic (ICTL’94), volume 827 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, pages 480–505. Springer-Verlag, 1994.

    Google Scholar 

  21. P. Gibbens. Logic with Prolog. Oxford Applied Mathematics and Computing Science Series. Oxford University Press, New York, 1988.

    Google Scholar 

  22. M. Greaves, H. Holmback, and J. Bradshaw. What is a conversation policy? In F. Dignum and M. Greaves, editors, Issues in Agent Communication, volume 1916 of Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence, pages 118–131. Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg, 2000.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  23. F. Guerin and J. Pitt. A semantic framework for specifying agent communication languages. In Proceedings of fourth International Conference on Multi-Agent Systems (ICMAS-2000), pages 395–396, Los Alamitos, California, 2000. IEEE Computer Society.

    Google Scholar 

  24. C.A. Gunter. Semantics of Programming Languages: Structures and Techniques. Foundations of Computing Series. The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1992.

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  25. C. Hewitt. Viewing control as patterns of passing messages. Artificial Intelligence, 8(3):323–364, 1977.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. K.V. Hindriks, F.S. de Boer, W. van der Hoek, and J.-J.Ch Meyer. Agent programming in 3APL. Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems, 2:357–401, 1999.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. C.A.R. Hoare. Monitors: an operating system structuring concept. Communications of the ACM, 17(10):549–557, 1974.

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  28. C.A.R. Hoare. Communicating sequential processes. Communications of the ACM, 21(8):666–677, 1978.

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  29. G. Jones. Programming in Occam. Prentice-Hall International, New York, NY, 1987.

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  30. Y. Labrou and T. Finin. Semantics for an agent communication language. In M.P. Singh, A. Rao, and M.J. Wooldridge, editors, Proceedings of Fourth International Workshop on Agent Theories, Architectures and Languages (ATAL’97), volume 1365 of Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence, pages 209–214. Springer-Verlag, 1998.

    Google Scholar 

  31. Y. Labrou, T. Finin, and Y. Peng. Agent communication languages: The current landscape. IEEE Intelligent Systems, 14(2):45–52, 1999.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. P. Noriega and C. Sierra, editors. Agent Mediated Electronic Commerce, volume 1571 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science. Springer Verlag, 1999.

    Google Scholar 

  33. J. Pitt and A. Mamdani. Some remarks on the semantics of FIPA’s agent communication language. Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems, 2(4):333–356, 1999.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. G. Plotkin. A structured approach to operational semantics. Technical Report DAIMI FN-19, Computer Science Department, Aarhus University, 1981.

    Google Scholar 

  35. A.S. Rao. Agentspeak(L): BDI agents speak out in a logical computable language. In W. van der Velde and J.W. Perram, editors, Agents Breaking Away, volume 1038 of Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence, pages 42–55. Springer-Verlag, 1996.

    Google Scholar 

  36. V.A. Saraswat. Concurrent Constraint Programming. The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1993.

    Google Scholar 

  37. D.A. Schmidt. Denotational Semantics: A Methodology for Language Development. Allyn and Bacon, Inc. Newton, Massachusetts, 1986.

    Google Scholar 

  38. J.R. Searle. Speech acts: An essay in the philosophy of language. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England, 1969.

    Google Scholar 

  39. Y Shoham. Agent-oriented programming. Artificial Intelligence, 60:51–92, 1993.

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  40. M.P. Singh. Agent communication languages: Rethinking the principles. IEEE Computer, 31(12):40–47, 1998.

    Google Scholar 

  41. G. Smolka. The Oz programming model. In J. van Leeuwen, editor, Computer Science Today, volume 1000 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, pages 324–343, Berlin, 1995. Springer-Verlag.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  42. L. Sterling and E. Shapiro. The Art of Prolog. The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1986.

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  43. R.D. Tennent. Semantics of Programming Languages. Prentice Hall, Hertfordshire, 1991.

    Google Scholar 

  44. S.R. Thomas. PLACA, an Agent Oriented Programming Language. PhD thesis, Computer Science Department, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 1993.

    Google Scholar 

  45. M. Wooldridge. Verifying that agents implement a communication language. In Proceedings of the Sixteenth National Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI-99), pages 52–57, 1999.

    Google Scholar 

  46. M. Wooldridge. Semantic issues in the verification of agent communication. Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems, 3(1):9–31, 2000.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  47. M. Wooldridge and N. Jennings. Intelligent agents: theory and practice. The Knowledge Engineering Review, 10(2): 115–152, 1995.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Information and Computing Sciences, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80.089, 3508 TB, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Rogier M. van Eijk

Authors
  1. Rogier M. van Eijk
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Cavendish School of Computer Science, University of Westminster, 9-18 Euston Centre, London, NW1 3ET, UK

    Mark d’Inverno

  2. Department of Computer Science, Southampton University, Southampton, S017 1BJ, UK

    Michael Luck

  3. Department of Computer Science, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7ZF, UK

    Michael Fisher

  4. Hewlett-Packard laboratories Bristol, Filton Road, Stoke Gifford, Bristol, BS12 6QZ, UK

    Chris Preist

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2002 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this paper

Cite this paper

van Eijk, R.M. (2002). Semantics of Agent Communication: An Introduction. In: d’Inverno, M., Luck, M., Fisher, M., Preist, C. (eds) Foundations and Applications of Multi-Agent Systems. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 2403. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-45634-1_10

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-45634-1_10

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-43962-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-45634-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation