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Computational Logics and Agents — A Roadmap of Current Technologies and Future Trends

by Michael Fisher, Rafael H. Bordini, Benjamin Hirsch, Paolo Torroni - Computational Intelligence
"... The concept of an agent is increasingly used in contemporary software applications, particularly those involving the Internet, autonomous systems, or cooperation. However, with dependability and safety in mind, it is vital that the mechanisms for representing and implementing agents are clear and co ..."
Abstract - Cited by 27 (8 self) - Add to MetaCart
The concept of an agent is increasingly used in contemporary software applications, particularly those involving the Internet, autonomous systems, or cooperation. However, with dependability and safety in mind, it is vital that the mechanisms for representing and implementing agents are clear and consistent. Hence there has been a strong research effort directed at using formal logic as the basis for agent descriptions and agent implementation. Such a logical basis not only presents the clarity and consistency required but also allows for important techniques such as logical verification to be applied. We present a roadmap of research into the use of computational logic in agent-based systems and survey much of the recent work in these areas. Even though, with such a rapidly changing field, it is impossible to cover every development, we aim to give the reader sufficient background to understand the current research problems and potential future developments in this maturing area.
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Automated Verification of Multi-Agent Programs

by Rafael H. Bordini, Louise A. Dennis, Berndt Farwer, Michael Fisher - In Proc. 23rd IEEE/ACM International Conference on Automated Software Engineering (ASE , 2008
"... Abstract—In this paper, we show that the flexible modelchecking of multi-agent systems, implemented using agentoriented programming languages, is viable thus paving the way for the construction of verifiably correct applications of autonomous agents and multi-agent systems. Model checking experiment ..."
Abstract - Cited by 26 (14 self) - Add to MetaCart
Abstract—In this paper, we show that the flexible modelchecking of multi-agent systems, implemented using agentoriented programming languages, is viable thus paving the way for the construction of verifiably correct applications of autonomous agents and multi-agent systems. Model checking experiments were carried out on AJPF (Agent JPF), our extension of Java PathFinder that incorporates the Agent Infrastructure Layer, our unifying framework for agent programming languages. In our approach, properties are specified in a temporal language extended with (shallow) agent-related modalities. The framework then allows the verification of programs written in a variety of agent programming languages, thus removing the need for individual languages to implement their own verification framework. It even allows the verification of multi-agent systems comprised of agents developed in a variety of different (agent) programming languages. As an example, we also provide model checking results for the verification of a multi-agent system implementing a well-known task sharing protocol. I.
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A Framework for State-Space Exploration of Java-based Actor Programs

by Steven Lauterburg, Mirco Dotta, Darko Marinov, Gul Agha
"... Abstract—The actor programming model offers a promising model for developing reliable parallel and distributed code. Actors provide flexibility and scalability: local execution may be interleaved, and distributed nodes may operate asynchronously. The resulting nondeterminism is captured by nondeterm ..."
Abstract - Cited by 16 (9 self) - Add to MetaCart
Abstract—The actor programming model offers a promising model for developing reliable parallel and distributed code. Actors provide flexibility and scalability: local execution may be interleaved, and distributed nodes may operate asynchronously. The resulting nondeterminism is captured by nondeterministic processing of messages. To automate testing, researchers have developed several tools tailored to specific actor systems. As actor languages and libraries continue to evolve, such tools have to be reimplemented. Because many actor systems are compiled to Java bytecode, we have developed Basset, a general framework for testing actor systems compiled to Java bytecode. We illustrate Basset by instantiating it for the Scala programming language and for the ActorFoundry library for Java. Our implementation builds on Java PathFinder, a widely used model checker for Java. Experiments show that Basset can effectively explore executions of actor programs; e.g., it discovered a previously unknown bug in a Scala application. I.
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Gwendolen: A BDI Language for Verifiable Agents

by Louise A. Dennis, Berndt Farwer - University of Aberdeen , 2008
"... Abstract. We describe the Gwendolen BDI (Belief, Desires and Intentions) agent programming language. Gwendolen is implemented in the Agent Infrastructure Layer (AIL), a collection of Java classes intended for use in model checking agent programs in a variety of languages. The Gwendolen language was ..."
Abstract - Cited by 15 (9 self) - Add to MetaCart
Abstract. We describe the Gwendolen BDI (Belief, Desires and Intentions) agent programming language. Gwendolen is implemented in the Agent Infrastructure Layer (AIL), a collection of Java classes intended for use in model checking agent programs in a variety of languages. The Gwendolen language was developed to test key features of the AIL and its integration with the model checker, JPF, and also to provide a default semantics for the AIL classes. 1

A goal-oriented software testing methodology

by Duy Cu Nguyen, Anna Perini, Paolo Tonella - In 8th International Workshop on Agent-Oriented Software Engineering, AAMAS , 2007
"... Abstract. Agent-Oriented Software Engineering (AOSE) methodologies are proposed to develop complex distributed systems based upon the agent paradigm. The natural implementation for such systems has usually the form of Multi-Agent Systems (MAS). As these systems are increasingly applied in mission-cr ..."
Abstract - Cited by 14 (4 self) - Add to MetaCart
Abstract. Agent-Oriented Software Engineering (AOSE) methodologies are proposed to develop complex distributed systems based upon the agent paradigm. The natural implementation for such systems has usually the form of Multi-Agent Systems (MAS). As these systems are increasingly applied in mission-critical services, assurances need to be given to their owners and users that they operate properly. Although the relevance of the link between requirements engineering and testing has long been recognized, current Agent-Oriented Software Engineering (AOSE) methodologies partially address it. Some of them offer specification-based formal verification, allowing software developers to correct errors at the beginning of the development process, others exploits Object-Oriented (OO) testing techniques, upon a mapping of agent-oriented abstractions into OO constructs. However, a structured testing process for AOSE methodologies that complements formal verification is still missing. In this paper we introduce a testing framework for the AOSE methodology Tropos. It specifies a testing process model that complements the agent-oriented requirements and design models and strengthens the mutual relationship between goal analysis and testing. Furthermore, it provides a systematic way of deriving test cases from goal analysis. We call this approach goal-oriented testing. 1
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A logic of agent programs

by N. Alechina, M. Dastani, B. S. Logan, J. -j. Ch. Meyer - In Proc. of the National Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI , 2007
"... We present a sound and complete logic for reasoning about SimpleAPL programs. SimpleAPL is a fragment of the agent programming language 3APL designed for the implementa-tion of cognitive agents with beliefs, goals and plans. Our logic is a variant of PDL, and allows the specification of safety and l ..."
Abstract - Cited by 14 (7 self) - Add to MetaCart
We present a sound and complete logic for reasoning about SimpleAPL programs. SimpleAPL is a fragment of the agent programming language 3APL designed for the implementa-tion of cognitive agents with beliefs, goals and plans. Our logic is a variant of PDL, and allows the specification of safety and liveness properties of agent programs. We prove a correspondence between the operational semantics of Sim-pleAPL and the models of the logic for two example program execution strategies. We show how to translate agent pro-grams written in SimpleAPL into expressions of the logic, and give an example in which we show how to verify correct-ness properties for a simple agent program.
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Model Checking Agent Programming Languages ∗

by Louise A. Dennis, Rafael H. Bordini, Berndt Farwer, Michael Fisher
"... The last decade has seen significant growth in both the amount and maturity of research being carried out in the area of agent-based systems. An agent can be seen as an autonomous computational entity, making its own decisions about what activities to pursue. Rational agents make such decisions in a ..."
Abstract - Cited by 12 (5 self) - Add to MetaCart
The last decade has seen significant growth in both the amount and maturity of research being carried out in the area of agent-based systems. An agent can be seen as an autonomous computational entity, making its own decisions about what activities to pursue. Rational agents make such decisions in a rational and explainable way and, since agents are autonomous, understanding why an agent chooses a course of action is vital. Therefore, a key new aspect in the design and
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Reasoning about agent deliberation

by N. Alechina, M. Dastani, B. S. Logan, J. -j. Ch. Meyer - In Proc. of the 11th Int. Conf. on Principles of Knowledge Representation and Reasoning (KR’08 , 2008
"... We present a family of sound and complete logics for reasoning about deliberation strategies for SimpleAPL programs. SimpleAPL is a fragment of the agent programming language 3APL designed for the implementation of cognitive agents with beliefs, goals and plans. The logics are variants of PDL, and a ..."
Abstract - Cited by 9 (2 self) - Add to MetaCart
We present a family of sound and complete logics for reasoning about deliberation strategies for SimpleAPL programs. SimpleAPL is a fragment of the agent programming language 3APL designed for the implementation of cognitive agents with beliefs, goals and plans. The logics are variants of PDL, and allow us to prove safety and liveness properties of SimpleAPL agent programs under different deliberation strategies. We show how to axiomatize different deliberation strategies for SimpleAPL programs, and, for each strategy we consider, prove a correspondence between the operational semantics of SimpleAPL and the models of the corresponding logic. We illustrate the utility of our approach with an example in which we show how to verify correctness properties for a simple agent program under different deliberation strategies.
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Ontology-based Test Generation for MultiAgent Systems

by Cu D. Nguyen, Anna Perini, Paolo Tonella - IN PROC. OF 7TH INT. CONF. ON AUTONOMOUS AGENTS AND MULTIAGENT SYSTEMS (AAMAS , 2008
"... This paper investigates software agents testing, and in particular how to automate test generation. We propose a novel approach, which takes advantage of agent interaction ontologies that define content semantic of agent interactions to: (i) generate test inputs; (ii) guide the exploration of the in ..."
Abstract - Cited by 8 (1 self) - Add to MetaCart
This paper investigates software agents testing, and in particular how to automate test generation. We propose a novel approach, which takes advantage of agent interaction ontologies that define content semantic of agent interactions to: (i) generate test inputs; (ii) guide the exploration of the input space during generation; and, (iii) verify messages exchanged among agents with respect to the defined interaction ontology. We integrated the proposed approach into a testing framework, called eCAT, which can generate and evolve test cases automatically, and run them continuously.

Programming Verifiable Heterogeneous Agent Systems ⋆

by Louise A. Dennis, Michael Fisher
"... Abstract. Our overall aim is to provide a verification framework for practical multi-agent systems. To achieve practicality, we must be able to describe and implement heterogeneous multi-agent systems. To achieve verifiability, we must define semantics appropriately for use in formal verification. T ..."
Abstract - Cited by 8 (5 self) - Add to MetaCart
Abstract. Our overall aim is to provide a verification framework for practical multi-agent systems. To achieve practicality, we must be able to describe and implement heterogeneous multi-agent systems. To achieve verifiability, we must define semantics appropriately for use in formal verification. Thus, in this paper, we tackle the problem of implementing heterogeneous multi-agent systems in a semantically clear, and appropriate, way. 1
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