A Framework for Developing Reactive Information Agents with Heterogeneous Communication Capabilities

Dimitris Vyzovitis and Keith L. Clark

Abstract

In this paper we present a generic framework for developing complex distributed applications in open information environments, using reactive agents as basic building blocks. We address agent architecture and collaboration issues by introducing a minimal agent architecture, the Reactive Information Agent, and adopting a flexible asynchronous communication infrastructure, the Inter-Agent Communication Model. Finally, we present an implementation of the framework which allows agent designers to rapidly develop multi-agent systems based on simple heterogeneous computational elements, which are mobile, adaptive, reflective, and dynamically reconfigurable during the system lifetime.

Keywords

Heterogeneous Information Agents, Mobile Agents, Agent Development Framework, Agent Architecture

To appear in Proceedings of The Fifth International Symposium on Autonomous Decentralized Systems, IEEE Computer Society Press, 2001

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