Distributed Commerce Transactions with Timing Deadlines and Direct Trust
Steven P. Ketchpel, Héctor García-Molina · 1997
In a multi-party transaction such as fulfilling an information request from multiple sources (also called a distributed commerce transaction), agents face risks from dealing with untrusted agents. These risks are compounded in the face of deadlines, e.g., an agent may fail to deliver purchased goods by the time the goods are needed. We present a distributed algorithm that mitigates these risks, showing that it is sound (produces only safe multi-agent action sequences) and complete (finds a safe sequence whenever one exists). We also show how the algorithm may be extended so that agents may interact directly with other participants rather than through a trusted intermediary. Introduction The explosion of networked information sources leads to the sense that the answer to any question is out there, if only one has access to the right combination of sources. Search engines and information brokers help navigate the space, yet adding information services and sources which require payment ...