We investigate the semantics for Knowledge Query Manipulation Language (KQML) and we propose a semantic framework for the language. KQML is a language and a protocol to support communication between software agents. Based on ideas from speech act theory,we propose a semantic description for KQML that associates descriptions of the cognitive states of agents with the use of the language 's primitives (performatives). We use this approachto describe the semantics for the basic set of KQML performatives. We also investigate implementation issues related to our semantic approach. We suggest that KQML can o#er an all purpose communication language for software agents that requires no limiting pre-commitments on the agents' structure and implementation. KQML can provide the Distributed AI, Cooperative Distributed Problem Solving and Software Agents communities with an all purpose language and environment for intelligent inter-agent communication.

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Problem-solving methods for knowledge-based systems establish the behavior of such systems by defining the roles in which domain knowledge is used and the ordering of inferences. Developers can compose problem-solving methods that accomplish complex application tasks from primitive, reusable methods. The key steps in this development approach are task analysis, method selection "from a library", and method configuration.

widespread, standardisation of ontologies, message content and message protocols will be necessary. In this paper, we present a lifecycle of a business-to-business e-commerce interaction, and show how the Semantic Web can support a service description language that can be used throughout this lifecycle. By using DAML+OIL, we develop a service description language su#ciently expressive and flexible to be used not only in advertisements, but also in matchmaking queries, negotiation proposals and agreements. We also identify which operations must be carried out on this description language if the B2B lifecycle is to be fully supported. We do not propose specific standard protocols, but instead argue that our operators are able to support a wide variety of interaction protocols, and so will be fundamental irrespective of which protocols are finally adopted.

Introduction Agents operate and exist in some environment, which typically is both computational and physical. The environment might be open or closed, and it might or might not contain other agents. Although there are situations where an agent can operate usefully by itself, the increasing interconnection and networking of computers is making such situations rare, and in the usual state of affairs the agent interacts with other agents. Whereas the previous chapter defined the structure and characteristics of an individual agent, the focus of this chapter is on systems with multiple agents. At times, the number of agents may be too numerous to deal with them individually, and it is then more convenient to deal with them collectively, as a society of agents. In this chapter, we will learn how to analyze, describe, and design environments in which agents can operate effectively and interact with each other productively. The environments will provide a computational infrastructu

We focus in this paper on some meta-level ontological distinctions among unary predicates, like those between concepts and assertional properties. Three are the main contributions of this work, mostly based on a revisitation of philosophical (and linguistic) literature in the perspective of knowledge representation. The first is a formal notion of ontological commitment, based on a modal logic endowed with mereological and topological primitives. The second is a formal account of Strawson's distinction between sortal and non-sortal predicates. Assertional

Traditional approaches to managing business processes are often inadequate for large-scale, organisation-wide, dynamic settings. However since Internet and Intranet technologies have become widespread, an increasing number of business processes exhibit these properties. Therefore a new approach is needed. To this end, we describe the motivation, conceptualisation, design and implementation of a novel agent-based business process management system. The key advance of our system is that responsibility for enacting various components of the business process is delegated to a number of autonomous problem solving agents. To enact their role, these agents typically interact and negotiate with other agents in order to coordinate their actions and to buy in the services they require. This approach leads to a system that is significantly more agile and robust than its traditional counterparts. To help demonstrate these benefits, a companion paper describes the application of our sys...

Abstract. Distributed problem solving involves the collective effort of multiple problems solvers to combine their knowledge, information, and capabilities so as to develop solutions to problems that each could not have solved as well (if at all) alone. The challenge in distributed problem solving is thus in marshalling the distributed capabilities in the right ways so that the problem solving activities of each agent complement the activities of the others, so as to lead efficiently to effective solutions. Thus, while working together leads to distributed problem solving, there is also the distributed problem of how to work together that must be solved. We consider that problem to be a distributed planning problem, where each agent must formulate plans for what it will do that take into account (sufficiently well) the plans of other agents. In this paper, we characterize the variations of distributed problem solving and distributed planning, and summarize some of the basic techniques that have been developed to date. 1

In the last years, the development of ontology-based applications has increased considerably, mainly related to the semantic web. Users currently looking for ontologies in order to incorporate them into their systems, just use their experience and intuition. This makes it difficult for them to justify their choices. Mainly, this is due to the lack of methods that help the user to determine which are the most appropriate ontologies for the new system. To solve this deficiency, the present work proposes a method, ONTOMETRIC, which allows the users to measure the suitability of existing ontologies, regarding the requirements of their systems.

In this paper we address the problem of interoperation at a semantic level. We assume that emerging standards will solve most of the syntactic infrastructure problems that exist today. However, interoperation has to deal with sources from differing domains, and their semantic differences. We present mediation as the principal means to resolve problems of semantic interoperation. Since the number of domains is large we cannot foresee a global solution to that problem, and hence will have to deal with domain interaction incrementally, and bring domains together as and when needed. To formalize the processing in mediation we will need formal models of the source domains, of the articulation points, and of the customer needs. We expect to capture these models using tools developed in the ARPA knowledge-sharing projects. The basis for these models are domain ontologies. We propose a knowledge-based algebra to manage the interoperation of information from different domains. Several research ...