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Dependable Multi-agent Systems: Layered Reference Architecture and Representative Mechanisms

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Safety and Security in Multiagent Systems

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNAI,volume 4324))

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Abstract

Layered architectures are a proven principle for the design of software systems and components. The paper introduces a layered reference architecture for multi-agent systems which assigns each agent property to select layers. It demonstrates how the same reference architecture provides a framework for a dependability model that associates the sources of failures and the ensuing error handling with a specific layer, thus integrating dependability directly into the design of agents. The architectural approach is illustrated by several dependability mechanisms that assume transactional conversations.

This is a revised and consolidated version of two contributions to the 2004 and 2006 workshops on Safety and Security of Multi-Agent Systems (SaSeMAS) [1,2]. The reference architecture has also been presented as a short paper at the 5th International Joint Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multi Agent Systems (AAMAS2006) [3].

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Fakultaet fuer Informatik, Universitaet Karlsruhe (TH), Postfach 6980, D-76128, Karlsruhe, Germany

    Peter C. Lockemann & Jens Nimis

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  1. Peter C. Lockemann
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  2. Jens Nimis
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer Science, The University of Auckland, P.O. Box, New Zealand

    Mike Barley

  2. School of Computing and Technology, University of East London, UK

    Haralambos Mouratidis

  3. Dept. of Computer Science and Software Engineering, The University of Melbourne, P.O. Box, VIC 3010, Australia

    Amy Unruh

  4. Computer Science Department, University of Wyoming, 82070, Laramie, WY, USA

    Diana Spears

  5. Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Avenue, PA 15213, Pittsburgh, USA

    Paul Scerri

  6. University of Trento, Povo (Trento), Italy

    Fabio Massacci

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Lockemann, P.C., Nimis, J. (2009). Dependable Multi-agent Systems: Layered Reference Architecture and Representative Mechanisms. In: Barley, M., Mouratidis, H., Unruh, A., Spears, D., Scerri, P., Massacci, F. (eds) Safety and Security in Multiagent Systems. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 4324. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-04879-1_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-04879-1_3

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-04878-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-04879-1

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