A scalable approach to multi-agent resource acquisition and control

Scalable coordination is a key challenge in deployment of multiagent systems. Resource usage is one part of agent behavior which naturally lends itself to abstraction. CyberOrgs is a model for hierarchical coordination of resource usage by multi-agent applications in a network of peer-owned resources. Programming constructs based on the CyberOrgs model allow resource trade and reification of control while maintaining a separation between functional and resource concerns of applications. A prototype implementation of CyberOrgs is described and expressive power of the programming constructs is illustrated with examples. Hierarchical control presents challenges in scalability. However, CyberOrgs make some types of resource coordination more amenable to efficient implementation. Hierarchical scheduling for processor time, for instance, can be implemented scalably by efficiently converting the hierarchical schedule into a flat schedule on the fly. This mechanism can be generalized to ...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2005
• Where: ATAL
• Authors: Nadeem Jamali, Xinghui Zhao
• Keywords: ATAL 2005, Hierarchical, Resource, Scalable Coordination