Understanding Agent Systems / Edition 2

by Mark d'Inverno, Michael Luck

Overview

Since the first edition was published two years ago, much has been done on extend­ ing the work done on SMART to address new and important areas [3-5,54,79,80, 108-110,116,118-120,122]. In this second edition, we have revised, updated and corrected the existing text and added three new chapters. These chapters provide a broader coverage of the fie1d of agents, and show in more detail how the specific framework described can be used to examine other areas. In Chapter 6, we use the concepts of discovery to apply the framework to autonomous interaction in multi­ agent systems; in Chapter 10 we use it for considering normative agents and systems; and in Chapter 11 we describe work on an implementation and development environment. As a course text, the book can be considered in different parts, as follows. - Chapter I and Chapter 2 offer a basic introduction to agents and their core com­ ponents. - Chapter 3 and Chapter 4 cover relationships between agents and basic notions of cooperation for multi-agent systems. - Chapter 5 and Chapter 6 introduce sociological agents, which are needed for rea­ soning and planning, and their use in reasoning about communication and inter­ action. - Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9 and Chapter 10 each cover different application areas relating to different aspects, inc1uding coordination (through the contract net), agent architecture (through AgentSpeak(L), social dependence networks, and normative systems.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783540407003
Publisher:	Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Publication date:	12/05/2003
Series:	Springer Series on Agent Technology
Edition description:	Second Edition 2004
Pages:	244
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.03(d)

About the Author

Mark d’Inverno has been working in the field of agent-based systems for well over 10 years and is currently Professor of Computer Science in the Cavendish School of Computer Science at the University of Westminster. He gained a BA in Mathematics in 1986 and an MSc in Computation in 1988 both from Oxford University, and in 1998 was awarded a PhD from University College London. He has published numerous papers in the area and is an expert in formal sepcification of agent systems. Prof d’Inverno is a founder of the UKMAS workshops, has chaired two UKMAS wortkshops and is a member of the UKMAS Steering Committee. He sits on several conference and workshop programme committees.

Michael Luck is a Senior Lecturer in the Intelligence, Agents and Multimedia Group in the School of Electronics and Computer Science at the University of Southampton, UK. He has worked in the field of agent technology and multi-agent systems for over ten years, having previously led the Agent-Based Systems Group at the University of Warwick for seven years, and having gained his PhD from University College London in 1993 for work on agent-based discovery. Dr Luck is a co-founder of the UK Special Interest Group on Multi-Agent Systems, and currently Chair of the UKMAS Steering Committee. He is a member of the Advisory Boards of FIPA (the agent standards body), MAAMAW (the European agent conference) and CEEMAS (the Central and Eastern European agent conference). He has served on numerous programme committees for agent conferences and workshops, and has organised and chaired several international conferences in the area of agents, including those for industry. Dr Luck has contributed to policy making forums for national and European agencies, has reviewed proposals for many national and international funding agencies, and has published extensively in this area (with over 75 papers and 5 books). Since 2000, he has been Director of AgentLink, the European Network ofExcellence for Agent-Based Computing.

Table of Contents

1. The Agent Landscape.- 2. The SMART Agent Framework.- 3. Agent Relationships.- A. The Z Specification Language.- A.1 Introduction to Z.- A.2 Generic Z Definitions.- A.2.1 Sets.- A.2.2 Relations.- A.2.3 Functions.- A.2.4 Sequences.- References.

Editorial Reviews

From the reviews of the second edition:

An excellent book that lays out a clear conceptual framework for studying and analysing agent-based systems.

Nick Jennings

Mark d'Inverno and Michael Luck have, over the last six or seven years, been at the forefront of European research in agent systems. This book poses some important foundational questions about agents and their interactions in multi-agent systems and answers them in a coherent and convincing way. It's an extremely valuable contribution to the field.

Michael Georgeff

It is undoubtedly a clear and most comprehensive attempt to describe agent-based systems in a unified manner.

Simon Parsons

"This book presents a formal approach to dealing with agents and agent systems. … The methodology presented takes a very significant step towards organising and structuring the diverse and disparate landscape of agent-based systems by applying formal methods to develop a defining andencompassing agent framework. The book will appeal equally to researchers, students, and professionals in industry." (PHINEWS, Vol. 7, 2005)

"The book consists of twelve chapters on two-hundred forty pages and contains a representative list of nearly two hundred references. Each chapter ends with a summary briefly outlining the main ideas. The significant ideas are illustrated by well chosen examples. … The book is useful for everybody interested in agent-based systems … . For his/her benefit, he/she gets didactically a perfect book presenting a unified view of a heterogeneous field of agent-based systems." (Tomas Brandejsky, Neural Network World, Vol. 14 (5), 2004)

From the Publisher