Using agent control and communication in a distributed workflow information system

M. Brian Blake

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

Agent communication has developed widely over the past decade for various types of multiple agent environments. Originally, most of this research surrounded simulation systems and inference systems. Subsequently, agents are expected to adapt to, dynamically create, and understand evolving conversation policies. This concept of agent communication is not completely necessary in some domains, especially in domains where the policy of interaction is essentially static. One such domain is that of distributed workflow management with implications into Electronic Commerce. In this domain, agents are "middle-agents" that represent the distributed components that implement each individual workflow step. By representing the component-based services of each step, multiple distributed agents can essentially manage a workflow or supply chain that spans several on-line businesses (B2B). The WARP (Workflow-Automation through Agent-Based Reflective Processes) architecture is a multi-agent architecture developed to support distributed workflow management environments where distributed components are used to implement each of the workflow steps. This paper describes a software engineering process for integrating new component-based services into a static workflow-based ontology. Furthermore, the interaction protocol and supporting implementation based on the Knowledge Query and Manipulation Language (KQML) are presented. This agent communication architecture is implemented with the latest in Sun MicroSystems' Jini technology.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationOn the Move to Meaningful Internet Systems 2002
Subtitle of host publicationCoopIS, DOA, and ODBASE - Confederated International Conferences, CoopIS, DOA, and ODBASE 2002, Proceedings
Pages163-178
Number of pages16
StatePublished - Dec 1 2002
Event10th Int. Conference on Cooperative Information Systems, CoopIS 2002, Jointly with the 4th Int. Symp. on, DOA 2002 and the 1st Int. Conf. on Ontologies, Databases, and Applications of Semantics for Large-Scale Information Systems, ODBASE 2002 - Irvine, CA, United States
Duration: Oct 30 2002 → Nov 1 2002

Publication series

NameLecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
Volume2519 LNCS
ISSN (Print)0302-9743
ISSN (Electronic)1611-3349

Other

Other10th Int. Conference on Cooperative Information Systems, CoopIS 2002, Jointly with the 4th Int. Symp. on, DOA 2002 and the 1st Int. Conf. on Ontologies, Databases, and Applications of Semantics for Large-Scale Information Systems, ODBASE 2002
CountryUnited States
CityIrvine, CA
Period10/30/02 → 11/1/02

Keywords

  • Agent communication
  • Object-oriented ontology
  • Workflow management

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Computer Science(all)
  • Theoretical Computer Science

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    Blake, M. B. (2002). Using agent control and communication in a distributed workflow information system. In On the Move to Meaningful Internet Systems 2002: CoopIS, DOA, and ODBASE - Confederated International Conferences, CoopIS, DOA, and ODBASE 2002, Proceedings (pp. 163-178). (Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics); Vol. 2519 LNCS).