A Specification Language for Agents Observable Behavior.
Mirko Viroli, Andrea Omicini · International Conference on Artificial Intelligence · 2002
Abstract|One of the main issues in the engineering ofmulti-agent systems is to give a precise semantics to agentcommunicative acts, by specifying how agent interactionswith the environment a ect and are a ected by the agentinner status { namely, by the decisions it takes and by itsperception of the world. In this paper, we tackle this prob-lem by modelling agents as observable sources, that is, asproactive and autonomous abstractions manifesting an ob-servable status and dynamics, and allowing external enti-ties to perceive and alter it. Based on this idea, an ab-stract language for specifying agents observable behaviouris presented, providing the designer with a tool for pre-cisely characterising the relationship between agents inter-nal aspects and agents collaborative aspects. We claim thatthis language can be the basis for a successful engineeringmethodology for agent-based systems where the concept ofobservation is taken as a foundational issue.Index Terms|Agent Communication Languages, AgentArchitectures, Formal Speci cation Languages, Agent-Oriented Software Engineering