Skip to main content
Springer Nature Link
Log in

The RETSINA MAS Infrastructure

  • Published:
Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

RETSINA is an implemented Multi-Agent System infrastructure that has been developed for several years and applied in many domains ranging from financial portfolio management to logistic planning. In this paper, we distill from our experience in developing MASs to clearly define a generic MAS infrastructure as the domain independent and reusable substratum that supports the agents' social interactions. In addition, we show that the MAS infrastructure imposes requirements on an individual agent if the agent is to be a member of a MAS and take advantage of various components of the MAS infrastructure. Although agents are expected to enter a MAS and seamlessly and effortlessly interact with the agents in the MAS infrastructure, the current state of the art demands agents to be programmed with the knowledge of what infrastructure they will utilize, and what are various fall-back and recovery mechanisms that the infrastructure provides. By providing an abstract MAS infrastructure model and a concrete implemented instance of the model, RETSINA, we contribute towards the development of principles and practice to make the MAS infrastructure “invisible” and ubiquitous to the interacting agents.

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

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Explore related subjects

Discover the latest articles, news and stories from top researchers in related subjects.

References

  1. S. Arai, K. Sycara, and T. R. Payne, “Multi-agent reinforcement learning for scheduling multiple-goals,” in ICMAS2000, 2000.

  2. K. S. Barber, D. N. Lam, C. E. Martin, and R. M. McKay, “Sensible agent testbed infrastructure for experimentation,” in Agents 2000: Workshop on Infrastructure for scalable MAS, Barcelona, Spain, 2000.

  3. C. Castelfranchi, “Modelling social action for AI agents,” Applied Artificial Intelligence, vol. 103, pp. 157–182, 1998.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Coabs, “Grid Web Site,” http://coabs.globalinfotek.com/, 2000.

  5. Corba, “Corba Web Site,” http://www.corba.org/, 2000.

  6. K. Decker, K. Sycara, and M. Williamson, “Middle-agents for the internet,” in Proceedings of IJCAI97, 1997.

  7. K. Decker, K. Sycara, and D. Zeng, “Designing a multi-agent portfolio management system,” in Proceedings of the AAAI-96 Workshop on Internet-Based Information Systems, Portland, OR, 1996.

  8. G. Economou, M. Paolucci, M. Tsvetovat, and K. Sycara, “Interaction without commitments: An initial approach,” in Agents 2001, 2001.

  9. C. Fellbaum, WordNet: An Electronic Lexical Database, MIT Press, 1998.

  10. T. Finin, Y. Labrou, and J. Mayfield, “KQML as an agent communication language,” in J. Bradshaw, (ed.), Software Agents, MIT Press, 1995.

  11. T. Finin, Y. Labrou, and J. Mayfield, “KQML as an agent communication language,” in J. Bradshaw, (ed.) Software Agents, MIT Press, 1997.

  12. FIPA, “Foundation For Physical Agents,” http://www.fipa.org/, 2000.

  13. L. N. Foner, “A security architecture for multi-agent matchmaking,” in ICMAS-96, 1996.

  14. S. Funfrokcen, “Transparent migration of Java-based mobile agents: Capturing and reestablishing state of Java programs,” in MA98, Berlin, Germany, 1998.

  15. L. Gasser, “MAS infrastructure: Definitions, needs, and prospects,” in T. A. Wagner and O. Rana, (eds.), Infrastructure for Agents, Multi-Agent Systems, and Scalable Multi-Agent Systems, LNCS. Springer-Verlag, 2001.

  16. J. A. Giampapa, O. Juarez-Espinosa, and K. Sycara, “Configuration management for multi-agent systems,” in Agents 2001, 2001.

  17. J. A. Giampapa, M. Paolucci, and K. Sycara, “Agent interoperation across multagent system boundaries,” in Agents 2000, 2000.

  18. J. A. Giampapa and K. Sycara, “Conversational case-based planning for agent team coordination,” in ICCBR-2001, 2001.

  19. J. R. Graham and K. S. Decker, “Towards a distributed, environment-centered agent framework,” in N. Jennings and Y. Lespérance, (eds.), Intelligent Agents VI, Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence, Springer-Verlag: Berlin, 2000.

    Google Scholar 

  20. M. Greaves, H. Holback, and J. Bradshaw, “What is a conversation policy?,” in Agents 99: Workshop on Specifying and Implementing Conversation Policies, 1999a.

  21. M. Greaves, H. Holmback, and J. M. Bradshaw, “What is a conversation policy?,” in In Agents99 Workshop on Specifying and Implementing Conversation Policies, 1999b.

  22. M. S. Greenberg, J. C. Byington, and D. G. Harper, “Mobile agents and security,” IEEE Communications, 1998.

  23. JADE, “Programmer's Guide,” http://sharon.cselt.it/projects/jade/, 2000.

  24. N. Jennings, K. Sycara, and M. Wooldridge, “A roadmap of agent research and development,” Journal of Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems, vol. 1, no.1, pp. 275–306, 1998.

    Google Scholar 

  25. S. Jha, P. Chalasani, O. Shehory, and K. Sycara, “A formal treatment of distributed matchmaking,” in Agents 1998, 1998.

  26. S. Jini, “Jini Web Site,” http://www.sun.com/jini, 2000.

  27. M. Klusch and K. Sycara, “Brokering and matchmaking for coordination of agent societies: A survey,” in A. Omicini et al., (eds.), Coordination of Internet Agents, Springer, 2001.

  28. B. Langley, M. Paolucci, and K. Sycara, “Discovery of infrastructure in multi-agent systems,” in Agents 2001 Workshop on Infrastructure for Agents, MAS, and Scalable MAS, 2001.

  29. D. Martin, A. Cheyer, and D. Moran, “The open agent architecture: A framework for building distributed software systems,” Applied Artificial Intelligence, vol. 13, nos.1 –2, pp. 92–128, 1999.

    Google Scholar 

  30. T. Milind, “Towards flexible teamwork,” Journal of Artifical Intelligence Research, vol. 7, pp. 83–124, 1997.

    Google Scholar 

  31. M. Nodine, W. B. Amd, and A. Ngu, “Semantic brokering over dynamic heterogeneous data sources in InfoSleuth(tm),” in Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Data Engineering, 1999.

  32. H. Nwana, D. Ndumu, L. Lee, and J. Collis, “ZEUS: A tool-kit for building distributed multi-agent systems,” Applied Artifical Intelligence Journal, vol. 13, no.1, pp. 129–186, 1999.

    Google Scholar 

  33. B. Perry, M. Taylor, and A. Unruh, “Information aggregation and agent interaction patterns in InfoSleuth,” in cia99, ACM Press, 1999.

  34. O. Shehory and K. Sycara, “The retsina communicator,” in Agents 2000, 2000.

  35. O. Shehory, K. Sycara, P. Chalasani, and S. Jha, “Increasing resource utilization and task performance by agent cloning,” in M. S. V. A. Rao and M. Wooldridge, (eds.), In Lecture Notes in AI: Intelligent Agents, Springer Verlag, 1998.

  36. M. P. Singh, “Agent communication languages: Rethinking the principles,” IEEE-Computer, vol. 11, 1998.

  37. I. Smith, P. Cohen, J. Bradshaw, M. Greaves, and H. Holmback, “Designing conversation policies using joint intention theory,” in ICMAS98, IEEE Press, 1998.

  38. R. G. Smith, “The contract net protocol: High-level communication and control in a distributed problem solver,” IEEE Transactions on Computers, vol. 29, no.12, pp. 1104–1113, 1980.

    Google Scholar 

  39. N. Suri, J. M. Bradshaw, P. T. G. Maggie R. Breedy, G. A. Hill, T. S. M. Renia Jeffers, B. R. Pouliot, and D. S. Smith, “NOMADS: Toward a strong and safe mobile agent system,” in Agents 2000, ACM Press, 2000.

  40. K. Sycara, K. Decker, A. Pannu, M. Williamson, and D. Zeng, “Distributed intelligent agents,” IEEE-Expert, Intelligent Systems and their Applications, vol. 11, no.6, pp. 36–45, 1996.

    Google Scholar 

  41. K. Sycara, M. Klusch, S. Widoff, and J. Lu, “Dynamic service matchmaking among agents in open information environments,” Journal ACM SIGMOD Record, vol. 28, no.1, pp. 47–53, 1999.

    Google Scholar 

  42. J. D. Thomas, K. Sycara, and T. R. Payne, “Heterogeneity, stability and efficiency in distributed systems,” in ICMAS1998, 1998.

  43. M. Tsvetovat, K. Sycara, Y. Chen, and J. Ying, “Customer coalitions in the electronic marketplace,” in Proceedings of Workshop on Agent-Mediated Electronic Commerce, Fourth International Conference on Autonomous Agents, 2000.

  44. H. C. Wong and K. Sycara, “Adding security and trust to multi-agent systems,” in Agents '99 Workshop on Deception, Fraud and Trust in Agent Societies, Portland, OR, 1999.

  45. H.-C. Wong and K. Sycara, “A taxonomy of middle-agents for the internet,” in ICMAS'2000, 2000.

  46. G. Zacharia, A. Moukas, and P. Maes, “Collaborative reputation mechanisms in online marketplaces,” in HICSS-32, 1999.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Ave, Pittsburgh, PA, 15232, USA

    Katia Sycara, Massimo Paolucci, Martin Van Velsen & Joseph Giampapa

Authors
  1. Katia Sycara
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Massimo Paolucci
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Martin Van Velsen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Joseph Giampapa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Sycara, K., Paolucci, M., Van Velsen, M. et al. The RETSINA MAS Infrastructure. Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems 7, 29–48 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024172719965

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024172719965