Performance models for large scale multiagent systems: using distributed POMDP building blocks

Given a large group of cooperative agents, selecting the right coordination or conflict resolution strategy can have a significant impact on their performance (e.g., speed of convergence). While performance models of such coordination or conflict resolution strategies could aid in selecting the right strategy for a given domain, such models remain largely uninvestigated in the multiagent literature. This paper takes a step towards applying the recently emerging distributed POMDP (partially observable Markov decision process) frameworks, such as MTDP (Markov team decision process), in service of creating such performance models. To address issues of scale-up, we use small-scale models, called building blocks that represent the local interaction among a small group of agents. We discuss several ways to combine building blocks for performance prediction of a larger-scale multiagent system. We present our approach in the context of DCSPs (distributed constraint satisfaction problems), ...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2003
• Where: ATAL
• Authors: Hyuckchul Jung, Milind Tambe
• Keywords: ATAL 2003, Building Blocks, Conflict Resolution, Conflict Resolution Strategies