Abstract
This paper will present the author's view of a Cooperating Knowledge Based System (CKBS) as an applied multi-agent system with a database perspective, based on well-defined computer-science concepts, rather than AI concepts. Each agent will be seen as an autonomous (necessarily large-grain) system which implicitly cooperates with other agents to achieve a global goal in a potentially multi-user environment, where performance, reliability, concurrent usage, user-friendliness are particularly important.
In this model, each agent is capable of executing well-defined actions of one or possibly more skill types in a multi-layered architecture where inter-agent communications are carried out in a medium of what are called shadows, with distribution transparency. The architecture also supports user-defined cooperation strategies to be followed by the cooperating agents for specific tasks. The model provides a useful basis for real-world applications of a number of domains, such as agent-based manufacturing, distributed network traffic flow and distributed service ontology.
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IMS Programme: This is an international programme on Intelligent Manufacturing Systems (IMS), with the participation of major industries, some universities and research institutes from six regions: Australia, Japan, EFTA countries, EU countries, Canada and USA, partially funded by the Governments. It is intended as a ten year pre-competitive research programme, starting with a one-year feasibility phase to be completed early 1994, hopefully to be followed by the full programme after a suitable evaluation study. The programme has several themes or projects, one of which is the Holonic Manufacturing System (HMS) for high-variety low-volume manufacturing in a largely un-manned environment. A holon can be assumed be a CKBS agent. The author is a participant in this IMS/HMS project, which inspired some of the work presented here.
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Deen, S.M. (1997). A database perspective to a cooperation environment. In: Kandzia, P., Klusch, M. (eds) Cooperative Information Agents. CIA 1997. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 1202. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-62591-7_22
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-62591-7_22
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