A Formal Methodology and Technique for Verifying Communication Protocols in a Multi-Agent Environment
Abstract
As network bandwidth increases, distributed applications are becoming increasingly prevalent. Systems using these applications are very complicated to build and must be dependable. Software agents are ideal for breaking complicated problems into manageable subtasks. Agent conversations, a series of messages passed between agents, are the cornerstone of multi-agent systems and must be deemed correct before being placed into service. The purpose of this research was to develop a formal methodology and technique to verify that the communication protocols defined in a multi-agent environment were valid. This was accomplished by examining agent conversations before deploying the system. An additional goal of this research was to develop a proof-of-concept module for agentTool that automatically verified some of the important properties identified in this methodology.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 2000
- Accession Number
- ADA380726
Entities
People
- Timothy H. Lacey
Organizations
- Air Force Institute of Technology